Wonderwall
by radical-rebel
Summary: This is my take on how Lily and James finally got together. Invloves a fiery temper, flirting, discoveries, one drink too many, confusion, and eventually love. My first fic please R&R! INCOMPLETE & ABANDONED!
1. Chapter 1 Seventh Years

(A/N) All I have to say at this moment is: Brittany, I finally published it! You'd damn well better be happy!

Chapter One – Seventh Years

"And all the roads we have to walk are winding,

And all the lights that lead us there are blinding,

There are many things that I would like to say to you,

But I don't know how

Because maybe

You're gonna be the one that saves me,

And after all, you're my wonderwall."

Oasis – Wonderwall

"Evans!" Lily Evans had just entered platform 9 and ¾ to yells and a huge bear hug from Sirius Black.

"Ugh!" Lily mumbled from underneath him. "Black, get off me!"

"Yeah Padfoot. Get off her." Lily turned when Sirius let go. The speaker was tall, with messy black hair and deep hazel eyes. James Potter. He and Sirius (also tall and black haired, but with bluish-grey eyes) were the two boys in Hogwarts that got the most attention from the girls. Lily didn't see why. She'd never found them attractive.

_Yes you have, you just won't admit it, _that nasty-and-always-right part of her brain said. She ignored it.

James looked at her, taking in the changes the summer had made. She was about 5 foot five, with amazing green eyes and long, wavy, dark red hair. She had filled out, and her curves made her even more attractive than she had been, which, since she was one of the hottest Gryffindor girls, was saying something.

James liked her. Ok, he adored her. Had ever since fourth year. But for some reason she despised him. He was determined that this year, she would love him back. She would.

"It was just a friendly hug, mate." Sirius told James nervously. He didn't want his best friend mad at him this early in the school year.

"You're late, Lils," said Lily's best friend Alli, walking over with Lily's other best friend, and James' friends Remus and Peter.

Allison Carter was a typical beauty; blonde curls, sparkling blue eyes, 5 foot 7 and shapely. She didn't act like it though. She was more likely to beat up boys than go out with them. That wasn't to say that she hadn't dated, of course. But anything she started didn't last long.

Juliette Marshall was a little shorter than Lily, with long dark brown hair and hazel eyes. She was typically quiet, and only expressed herself around people she was comfortable with. She and Lily were very similar, and the two of them (as well as Remus) were three of the smartest students in the school.

Remus Lupin had straw-colored hair and pale blue eyes, and was about as tall as the other boys. He was a good student, but despite this he was always involved in the pranks his friends pulled.

Peter Pettigrew was short and stocky, with brown hair and eyes. He wasn't very good at school, and followed whatever his other friends said.

"Well, not late actually," Julie said matter-of-factly. "You're just the last one here."

"Sorry guys. It's all Petunia's fault." Lily made her voice high-pitched and annoying and began to mime her sister. "'I have date to get to! The freak can just wait!' Why anyone would want to date my sister is beyond me." Lily shuddered, and the girls laughed.

"Come on," Remus said. "We have to get on the train."

Lily, Alli, and Julie went to their own compartment, and the boys to theirs.

"Is it just me or is Sirius suddenly mightily good-looking?" Alli asked dreamily as they sat down.

"It's just you," said Lily dryly.

"My dear Alli," said Julie dramatically, "Could this possibly be a crush?" Alli blushed, and Julie laughed.

"What about James, Lily?" Alli asked, trying to change the subject. She didn't think she liked Sirius, and she wasn't going to let herself anyway.

Lily's eyes flashed. "What about him?"

Julie rolled her eyes. "It'd obvious his feelings are still strong! You should have seen the look on his face when Sirius hugged you!"

"And?"

"Are you finally gonna give him a chance this year?" Alli asked exasperatedly.

"Of course not!" Lily exclaimed. "He's a complete prat! His ego's too big for even him to handle! I doubt he actually cares about me. He's just trying to prove that he can get any girl he wants!"

"Whatever you say," said Julie.

"If he could ever even possibly deflate his head, maybe I would go out with him. He's just so idiotic though! That could never happen."

"I guess you're right," Julie agreed half-heartedly, knowing it was better to agree with Lily at this point. Alli moaned in despair and put her head in her hands.

In the marauders compartment, Sirius was doing the exact same thing.

"Prongs, mate, you just don't get it!" He said. "She's determined to hate you!"

"Well I'm just as determined to make her love me." James told his friend simply. "This year it'll happen. I can just feel it.

"Just don't get your hopes up to high." Remus warned him dully over the top of his book.

"Right full of happiness, aren't you Moony?" James asked sarcastically.

"I'm hoping she'll change her mind just as much as you are." Remus put down his book. "It would probably help you a great deal. Maybe you wouldn't talk our ears off so much. The reality is, though, that it's not likely. You have to understand that."

James turned his head to look out the window. "I know, I just… have this feeling…"

"I think you're just in over your head." Sirius said laughing. "And Moony's right. I bet snogging Evans would improve your mood."

James glared, then grabbed Remus's book and chucked it at Sirius' head.

Peter laughed too, then checked his watch. "Don't you have to be at the Head's compartment?"

James jumped up. "Dammit! I forgot!"

"How could you forget Dumbledore's biggest mistake ever!" Sirius yelled. "Honestly! Making you Head Boy! What was he smoking? It should have been Moony!"

"I'm sure Dumbledore had his reasons." Remus said simply, picking up his book and trying to find his page again.

"See you guys," said James, shaking his head as he left.

When he got to the Heads Compartment, Lily was already there.

"I knew you'd be Head Girl." He said happily, grinning at her.

"Potter? What are you doing here?" Lily asked, shocked.

He flashed his badge at her. "I'm as surprised as you are. We've all agreed that Dumbledore's lost it."

"Oh my god. He has." Lily mumbled, putting her head in her hands.

"What? Am I that bad?" James asked, fakely astonished.

Lily raised her head to look at her. "Yes, you are," she said, and then put her head back. "I can't believe Dumbledore is making me work with _you_!"

"You say that as if it's a bad thing."

"That's because it is, you prat!" Lily yelled, in her head thinking, _my life is now officially hell._

(A/N) Well, please read and review, even if you don't like it so far. If I get more than one review, I'm going out for chocolate. Five whole reviews, and I'm buying myself a new DVD! I've been wanting Secret Window for a while anyway!


	2. Chapter 2 Classes

A/N) I got 3 whole reviews! jumps for joy I feel so appreciated!

snochik21: Thanks so much for reviewing!

Chaosblazen: I'm working on the humor. Hopefully you'll think this one is more funny. I'm glad you liked it anyway!

Brit: You couldn't hack into anything if your life depended on it! And I probably shouldn't be saying that, because you could easilly come over to my house and steal my writing notebook. I'll shut up now.

Chapter Two – Classes

"Why do you love me?

Why do you love me?

Why do you love me?

You're driving me crazy."

Garbage – Why do you love me?

"Lily! Lily, get up!"

"Mmm…" Lily mumbled.

"Up or I'm getting cold water!" Julie threatened.

Lily promptly sat up and rubbed her eyes. "I'm up, I'm up!"

"Good," said Julie, sitting next to her friend. "You have about twenty minutes to get ready. After breakfast we have Charms, and then Potions. Ugh!"

Lily moaned too. She absolutely hated Potions. Professor Slughorn was irritating beyond all reason. He chose favorites from among the students, and invited them to lunches with him. Lily, Alli, and Julie, and James, Sirius, and Remus were always invited; Lily, Julie, and Remus for their brains, James Sirius and Alli for their rich and well-known families.

Then Lily's brain registered what Julie had said. "Twenty minutes!"

XXXXXX

Exactly twenty minutes later, Lily and Julie joined Alli at the Gryffindor table.

"Did you have to take so long?" Alli asked in a whiny voice.

"Look, it's not my fault you have no patience whatsoever." Lily told her. "At least Julie tried to get me up, unlike some people."

Alli grinned sheepishly. Then she looked to up the table towards the door. Lily and Julie turned around to see what she was looking at, and saw the marauders entering.

"Alli's just going googly-eyes for Sirius." Lily whispered to Julie, who laughed. Alli, regaining control, blushed. The girls laughed even harder as the four boys came over to sit with them.

"What, my dears ladies, is so funny?" Sirius asked, raising one eyebrow inquisitively.

"Nothing," said Lily, and the girl became downright hysterical. Sirius shrugged his shoulders and sat down to eat, while the other boys followed his example.

XXXXXX

The morning went exceptionally too slow for Lily's liking. She usually liked being in classes, but every once and a while, she didn't feel like being there. Today was one of those days. Now normally, if she felt like this, she would spend the class time not paying attention, but today, seeing as it was the first day of school, this wasn't an option.

Finally, after what felt like days, it was lunch time. Lily took the opportunity to space out, and didn't pay much attention to her friends' conversation, which resulted in many evil looks being thrown at her for not answering their questions. She decided to go to the library, where she could space out as much as she wanted, and read as well, for the last half an hour before class. James, noticing her weird mood, followed her.

"Hey Evans!" He said, sitting next to her.

Lily ignored him completely, and it wasn't because she was off in her own head. _Geez! _She thought. _Why does he always bother me when I am obviously not in the mood to deal with him? I wish he would just leave me alone!_

"Earth to Evans? You there?" James asked, hoping that she was simply a space cadet and not ignoring him.

"Yeah, I'm here," said Lily finally, shaking her head as if coming back to reality.

"Are you ok?" He asked, concerned.

"Yep, I'm fine," Lily said, nodding.

"Ok. Will you go out with me?" James seemed to have taken her lack of yelling at him as encouragement.

"Of course not!" Lily yelled, making sure that she wasn't too loud. She didn't need Madam Pince sweeping down on her at the moment. "How the hell did you get from a simple question to a date request? You are such a think-headed prick!"

He flinched. "Ouch. That bites."

"I was hoping that this year you would finally understand. Obviously my hopes were too high." Grabbing the book she was reading, she stormed out of the library, leaving James staring at nothing.

XXXXXX

That afternoon they were stuck in Defense against the Dark Arts, with the Slytherins.

"Today, just for good measure, will be a practice day." Professor Lerrant said, as she walked into the classroom. "I want you to get into groups of two or three and go over what we've learned in the past years. Preferably _recent_ things," she added firmly, accenting the word recent after seeing the looks on the marauders faces. "Everything should be first attempted non-verbally, but if that doesn't work for certain spells than its fine to speak out loud. Oh, and one more thing. If you can't get into groups on your own, I'll be forced to help you."

With that the students began to get into groups. Lily, Alli and Julie decided to work together. James and Sirius were nearby them, as well as Remus and Peter and (A/N unfortunately) Severus Snape and his partner.

After practicing the stunning spell on each other many times (non-verbally), they sat down to rest a bit. Lily felt eyes on the back of her neck, so she turned. Potter was watching her again. She looked into his eyes for a moment, but when he didn't turn away, she did. _What is wrong with him? _she thought._ He may have so-called "feelings" for me, but staring at me is no way to impress me. It's just going to decrease his grades when he doesn't get his work done. Although he does deserve it. _She grinned to herself and began to twirl her hair in her fingers while she listened to Julie boss them around as to what they should practice next.

"Prongs? Earth to Prongs, calling you home from Planet Evans!" James snapped out of it to see his best friend looking at him concernedly. "Are you sure you don't need help?" Sirius asked. "I'm sure there's some kind of treatment for this."

James punched him.

"What? I was just saying," said Sirius, rubbing his left arm where he'd been punched. "Staring at a girl every once and a while is ok, but you've been off on Planet Evans almost everyday for the past couple years!"

"You know Padfoot," said Remus from the table next to them. "There's this thing; you wouldn't have heard of it. It's called love."

"Shut it, Moony," snapped Sirius. Remus thought he saw Sirius' eyes flash to Lily, Alli, and Julie, but a second later he was sure he was just seeing things.

"James, Lily would be more impressed with you if you _don't_ fail Defense against the Dark Arts because you were too busy staring at her to get your work done." Remus told James, who was once again looking at Lily.

"You're right Moony," said James wistfully, turning away from the redhead. "What would I do without you here to guide me?"

"Probably get beat up by Evans a lot more!" A laughing Sirius told them. He shut up at the look from his best friend.

Back at the girls table, Lily and Julie were looking around to the other groups, watching their progress. Alli was sitting next to them, non-verbally and repeatedly turning her quill into a Muggle pencil and back again.

"Look over there," said Julie, pointing to Snape. "Snape's trying to do the silencing charm, but he's moving his wand wrong."

Alli looked up, her quill still a pencil. "You should tell him." She said sarcastically. "We'd hate for him to be making a mistake like that." She really just wanted to make Snape mad. Last year he had turned her school bag into a snake because she got involved in trying to stop a fight between him and the marauders. She hadn't gotten the chance to get him back, since that happened only about a week before school got out for the summer.

"Do I sense a different set of motives?" Lily asked her friend.

Alli grinned evilly. "I want to see his face when we tell blood traitors tell him he's wrong. Anyway, I owe him some embarrassment, after last year."

Lily and Julie rolled their eyes. "Fine, go ahead." Julie said.

"Hey Snape!" Alli called. "You're not moving your wand the right way."

"What are they doing?" Remus asked his friends, concerned.

"Alli's trying to embarrass Snivellus." James explained, seeing the look on his friend's face. He and Alli had known each other since before Hogwarts. The Potters and the Carters were friends, so they had almost grown up together. James often was able to tell what Alli was thinking, just by looking at her.

Snape glared at them with contempt. "Oh really?" He pointed his wand at Lily, and waved it. Lily felt her voice leave her, and tried to talk, but couldn't. Seeing as she could be heard, she proceeded to mouth any swearwords she could think of at Snape, causing all the marauders' jaws to drop.

"I don't need help from Mudbloods and blood traitors like you." He told them venomously.

"Hey Snivellus! Didn't your mother ever teach you good manners?" James asked him, furious that that idiot had cursed Lily.

"What are you gonna do Potter?" Snape asked. "Hex me as punishment?"

"What a good idea, Snivellus." James said, grinning. Only the girls and the marauders saw James point his wand at Snape from under the table. The next thing they knew, Snape had huge boils all over his face. To add insult to injury, his greasy black hair was now bright pink and standing straight up. All the Gryffindors broke into laughter.

Julie removed the spell from Lily, who failed to notice it was gone. "And as soon as this spell's off me," she was saying. "I'm going to kick your sorry little … oh. Voice's back." She turned slightly red as her friends began to laugh.

_Crap! _Lily thought. _I'm probably bright red. Just what I need. And Potter defended me again! Why does he always do that? Doesn't he realize that I can handle things for myself? The git's just trying to show off! He is so self-centered! God, he irritates me!_

"What _is_ going on?" Professor Lerrant asked.

"Potter hexed me, professor." Snape said quickly.

"How is that possible? His wand is nowhere in sight."

"But professor…"

"No, Mr. Snape, I will not tolerate blaming other students. You were probably just practicing a spell that backfired. I know your history with Mr. Potter. Please go to the hospital wing, your boils need to be removed."

"You'll be sorry Potter!" Snape yelled angrily, exiting the class to peals of laughter.

"Now, please continue," said Professor Lerrant simply, and the class went back to work.

(A/N) I realized, I forgot a disclaimer for the first chapter! Well, you people shouldn't need it anyway, seeing as if I were the author of Harry Potter I wouldn't be wasting my time on a fanfiction site. Anyway, this is for the whole story.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you reckognize, and do own anything that you don't.

If we can get up to ten reviews (7 more), than I'm off to buy Secret Window! You know what to do now. The little purple button is waiting!


	3. Chapter 3 Learning

(A/N) Chapter 3 is finally finished! And Brittany didn't come steal my notebook, so all my awful first drafts can stay unread like I want them to!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! We didn't hit 10 though, but I'll live with it.

princessdza - I'm so glad you like it so far! Thanks for the compliments; they made my day! I don't mind if you add my story to your C2 community. I, in my ignorance, don't know what a C2 community is, but it sounds good so I'm not bothered.

rockergurl13 - I hate Snape too, as I hope you can tell. Thank you for keeping an eye out for my story!

Chaosblazen - No! Not bad grammer! Anything but that! (cowers in fear)

Now, on with the story!

Chapter Three – Learning

"Hey girl, you've got a smart way about you

That makes me wish that I was smart enough for you

Hey girl, you've got a fine laugh,

And I think that I could get used to that

But you're already used to laughing at me."

Dashboard Confessional – Hey Girl

That evening, just after supper,found James sulking in the common room. He had thought Lily would be happy that he had helped her and cursed that slimy git Snape. Instead, he'd received a long lecture on how the redhead "never needed his help and never will." _What is it with her? _He thought. _All I ever do is try to show her how much I care, and she just keeps finding reasons to get mad at me! _

"Why so stormy Potter?" James looked up to see Alli coming over had just entered the portrait hole.

"Evans!" He told her, shaking his head as she sat down next to him.

"She gave you the old 'I don't need anyone's help,' did she?" Alli asked understandingly.

James nodded. "I just don't understand her! I'm trying to help her and she blows up in my face! Why?"

_I wonder if Lily would consider it a breach of our friendship if I explain her reasoning to James, _Alli thought. _I mean, the poor guy has no clue what he's done wrong. I should at least try to help him out. _

"Well," she began. "Lily doesn't want to be thought of as needing other people to protect her. She's proud of the fact that she can defend herself, and believe me, if you hadn't done something nasty to Snivellus, she surely would have. She particularly doesn't like you helping her because she thinks you're just trying to show off."

"But I'm not trying to show off!" James interrupted, feeling slightly hurt that Lily would think that.

"I know you're not," Alli told him. "But either Lily doesn't know or refuses to."

"What do I do now?" James moaned, leaning back and putting his head on the back of the couch to stare at the ceiling.

"If I were you, I would apologize to her, and tell her that you won't try to help her again unless she asks." Alli advised. "She'll be more likely to listen to you if you're playing the game by her rules. I know it probably doesn't make much sense, but trust me. And you actually have to keep your promise. Otherwise she'll just get pissed at you."

"I wouldn't say that and then go back on my word!" James said, defending himself again. "I'm not that lousy!"

"Yes, I know that too." Alli said, looking out the window next to her. "But the next time there's a situation like that, you might forget because you want to help her so much. I did that once, when these boys were hitting on her. It's wasn't pretty. You've just gotta let her do things her way. If you do that, she'll be able to see that you respect her wishes. Ok?"

James nodded, and then added, "You didn't have to help me you know."

"For the third time in the past couple minutes, I'm saying I know. You just looked like you could use it. Do me a favor though, and don't tell her I gave you advice. That'd get her mad at me." Alli got up to leave, and James slid over slightly.

"Right, I'll stay silent." James took the opportunity to look out the window to see what his friend had been looking at. Sirius was flying outside.

"Good, thanks." Alli started to walk away, but looked back. "I think Remus and I are the only two people that keep you from screwing your life over."

"What, so I couldn't make it on my own?" James asked, grinning.

Alli pretended to think. "Uhh … no! Good luck lover-boy; you'll need it."

XXXXXX

Half an hour later when Lily entered the Gryffindor common room, James was ready and waiting.

"Hey, Lily!"

Lily jumped at this sudden use of her first name. "What Potter?" She snapped.

"I just wanted to apologize." He said, trying his hardest to focus on what he was saying and not those gorgeous (and now quite wide) green eyes staring at him. "I didn't need to defend you, and I won't do it again unless you ask me to."

Lily's eyes got, if possible, wider. Was he seriously apologizing to her? What happened to the "I'm-too-good-to-ever-need-to-apologize-to-anyone" ego? Now what was she going to say to him? She couldn't snap again, not after he had just apologized.

"Um, thanks for the apology." She said carefully. "I guess I over-reacted slightly."

"Look, Lily, I know we've never been very friendly." James said, impulsively adding to his small speech. "But we're the new heads, and we're going to have to work together a lot this year, and it's gonna be really hard if we're fighting all the time. Do you think that there's any chance we can be friends this year?"

Lily looked up into his hazel eyes, shocked by a request that wasn't for a date. She saw something in them that she didn't recognize in them, but she quickly pushed it aside.

"Ok," she said, sighing. "You're right. It would be easier if we didn't fight." She held out her hand to shake. James felt his arm tingle when his hand touched hers.

"Friends, then?" He asked.

"Friends," she nodded.

XXXXXX

"Guess what!" James exclaimed, jumping on Sirius' bed.

"I don't wanna guess." Sirius mumbled.

"Why?" James asked, looking confused.

It was Remus, not Sirius, who explained. "Because the last time you said that, you dumped a bucket of cold water on him."

"Yes, well that was because he wouldn't get up." Peter said in James' favor.

"Lily actually agreed to be my friend." That got their attention. All arguments were forgotten, and all eyes turned James' way.

"What happened?" Peter asked.

James explained the whole thing, starting with the Defense against the Dark Arts happenings and ending with the conversation he had just had with Lily.

"So let me get this straight," said Sirius. "_You_ had a conversation with _Lily Evans_ that _didn't_ involve her yelling at you _or_ smacking you?"

"That would be what he said." Remus pointed out sarcastically.

"Don't you guys realize," said James. "This is a breakthrough! Maybe now I'll have a better chance with her."

"And," said Peter, "since you were made Head Boy and she's Head Girl, you'll be able to spend more time with her."

"And she's agreed to be your friend so she can't complain about it." Sirius told them, spoiling the moment.

"Who said she would have complained about it?" James asked, glaring at Sirius.

"Shutting up," said Sirius quickly, seeing the look on his best friend's face.

XXXXXX

The Private Diary of Lily Evans

September 1st

I don't believe this. I think I've officially gone crazy. Insanity must be somewhere in my family genes.

I just agreed to be friends with James Potter.

_James Potter_, for crying out loud! I've definitely inherited the family legacy of complete idiocy. What was I thinking? He just looked at me with this look on his face, and I found myself saying ok. What _have_ I gotten myself into?

Well, it might not be too bad, I guess … Ok, who am I kidding? He kept on staring at me all through Transfiguration this afternoon! This is so not good! I'm giving him what he wants! I'm letting him get closer to me! I may have agreed to be his friend, but I haven't agreed to going out with him. Any funny business and he gets it!

His hair did look nice today though. Oh my god! Did I just write that? And, damn it! It's one of Alli's permanent quills. I can't even scratch it out; if I try the quill's ink dries up before I can even touch the paper. God, Alli is so evil! And, oh god! Must go hide diary! I wouldn't put it past Alli to steal it and read everything I wrote! Write later!

Lily

XXXXXX

"Hey, Lily! What's this I hear about you being friends with James Potter now?"

Lily jumped and quickly shoved her diary under her pillow. "Hello to you too, Alli."

Alli sat next to her grinning. "What, you writing something about your new 'friend' in your diary?"

"You are so evil!" Lily yelled, grabbing her pillow and trying to hit her friend. Alli dodged the first attack, but the second one hit her face dead on.

"So, you friends with him or what?" Alli asked, seizing another pillow and attempting to hit back.

"Only because he's now Head Boy, and we'll have to work together anyway." Lily told her, dodging.

"Do I sense a different set of motives?" Alli asked slyly, copying what Julie had said earlier.

"Are you suggesting that I like Potter?" Lily shrieked, whacking Alli over the head.

"Possibly," said Alli, ducking to miss an extremely hard second blow.

"You're sick!" Lily screeched. "How could you think something like that? He's my enemy, for god's sake!"

"What the hell?" Both Alli and Lily froze. Julie had just walked in with one of their roommates, Alice Farrow.

"She started it," said Lily and Alli simultaneously, pointing at each other.

"My guess is that Alli actually started it." Julie said, to angry yells from across the room. "She's never been one to notice when she's driving Lily up a wall."

"Julie, I suggest we back away slowly." Alice said, starting to back towards the door. "Splendid idea," Julie nodded and followed her.

Alli looked at Lily. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I do believe I am," said Lily, grinning evilly and fluffing her pillow.

"Attack!" They screamed, and lunged for their two friends. Absolute pillow-fight chaos ensued.

"What the hell?" This time Rebecca Woodstone, the last of the roommates, walked in. The other four girls collapsed into giggles.

(A/N) Well, there's chapter 3! Hope you liked it! Push the purple button and let me know what you thought! My goal is to get to 15 reviews this time, so start reviewing!


	4. Chapter 4 NonStudiers

(A/N) Hi everybody! Sorry it's taken so long to update! My dad's grandmother just passed away, so I've been out of town for the past couple days and I forgot to bring my notebook. I feel so bad, it's not even funny! And I just got my high school schedule today! (cringes in fear) Darn that evil thing they call high school! (punching fist in the air) If Spetember rolls around and I just disapear off the face of the earth, then you should know, high school has killed me!

Chaosblazen - FBI?(starts singing the X-Files themesong) Good grammar is wonderful! Please don't hit me with the bad grammar comments! It isn't my fault I haven't posted in a while!

princessdza -I'm melting with happiness! Your compliments really are too much! I'm not even that good! Anyway, I'm glad you like my writing! Thanks for explaining it to me. I'd be honored if you were to do that.

Now, here's what you've all been waiting for! Instead of my rambling, you can read the actual story!

Chapter Four - Non-Studiers

"And it's you and me, and all of the people

Wit nothing to do, nothing to lose

And it's you and me, and all of the people

And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you."

Lifehouse – You and Me

"I can't believe it's only 2 weeks into the school year and we already have three rolls of parchment to write!" Alli whined to weary listeners.

Lily, Julie, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and, obviously, Alli were sitting at a table in the common room, studying. Alli had been complaining for the last hour straight. The only person who didn't seem to mind her complaints was Sirius, and that was only because he was complaining along with her.

"I hate Professor Flitwick!" Sirius moaned leaning back in his chair to balance on the back two legs.

"That's nice to know Sirius," said an irritated Remus.

"I can't believe McGonagall wasn't the first one to assign an essay." Lily said dejectedly.

"What, is your idol not meeting your expectations?" Sirius asked. Lily glared.

"No, it's just that she broke the record!" Julie said, answering for Lily. "For the last five years, she's always been the first to assign a major paper like this."

"You girls keep track of this stuff?" James asked, shocked.

"Yes," answered Lily and Julie simultaneously.

"Did Flitwick say when it was due?" Peter asked in between searching his notes from the class.

"The 22nd," this time Remus and Lily answered at the same time.

"Why are you trying to make me work now then?" Sirius yelled. "It's not due for another five days! I could be out having fun!"

"Yeah! Why work now! It looks beautiful outside right now!" Alli pointed out.

"If you get it done now, you won't end up spending the night before its due finishing it because you put it off like you always do." Lily explained with the air of one talking to a five-year-old.

"Why ruin tradition?" Alli and Sirius chorused. When they realized that they'd spoken at the same time, they both blushed.

"Come on James! Why aren't you with me on this?" Sirius asked.

The truth was that James was only working on school work to try to impress Lily and give off the impression that he was a good student, but he couldn't say that in front of her. "Lily's right. I'm getting sick of all the nights you keep me up trying to get things done at the last minute."

Lily looked at him, shocked, but quickly turned away. _If he sees that I'm looking at him, I'll only be encouraging his advances, _she thought

Sirius, on the other hand, leaned over and whispered in James' ear, "You know you're only trying to impress our little Evans." James elbowed him.

"We should just let them go," said Peter. "Anyway, it's their grades, not ours."

"Yeah, and if they come asking us for help, we should all refuse." Julie added, grinning evilly.

"Brilliant," agreed Lily.

"Fine," said Alli. "We don't need their help, do we Black?"

"Of course not!" Sirius said proudly. "We should go outside and enjoy the weather! They'll all be jealous of us and our non-studying ways!"

With that they both got up and walked to the portrait hole. As they walked through it, Sirius whispered to Alli "We are so screwed."

XXXXXX

It was a sunny September day outside as Alli and Sirius walked out on the grounds.

"So, where to, oh captain?" Sirius asked, saluting her.

Alli laughed. "Um … how about the lake?"

"Right-o."

They walked in silence, before Sirius decided to break the silence again.

"We really are screwed. There's no was this paper's gonna work without Remus' help."

"That's where you're wrong." Alli said happily. Sirius looked confusedly at her. "You're the one who's screwed. I'm fine though, because Charms happens to be one of my best subjects."

"Really?"

"Yes, and I ain't gonna help you!" Alli had to run as soon as these words escaped her lips, because at that point Sirius began to chase her.

"When I catch you, you have to help me!" He called from behind her.

"You wish!" She yelled back, running faster.

"I do, actually," Sirius agreed cockily, also speeding up. He proceeded to chase her around the Quidditch pitch and to their original destination, the lake.

"I can't breathe!" Alli yelled finally, collapsing under a tree and gasping for air. Sirius fell on top of her.

"Gotcha!" He announced happily.

"Urgh! Sirius … get … off … me!" Alli cried, shoving him off her.

"Fine," he said, a little too late, considering that he was already pushed off onto the grass. "I caught you, so you have to help me."

Alli rolled her eyes, then began to laugh when he made a puppy-dog face at her. "Why not."

Sirius looked at her, lying there in the grass under the tree, next to him, and her vivid blue eyes caught his. He found himself smiling at her, and he had absolutely no idea why.

XXXXXX

"I wonder what Alli and Sirius are doing out there," said James to know one in particular, trying to distract his fellow seventh years. Julie and Remus were having a discussion about the Ministry's treatment of non-wizards, like house elves and vampires. Lily was helping Peter with his essay, every once and a while stopping to throw her two cents into the debate. It took an awkward turn when Julie brought up the treatment of werewolves.

Apparently James' attempts at distraction weren't working, because Julie continued.

"Not giving them jobs, just because of something they can't help." She was saying. "It's only because they're afraid of them."

"Exactly," Lily said. "It's that whole concept of people being afraid of what they don't understand."

"Well maybe they should be trying to understand, not shunning them." Julie said animatedly.

Remus, happy as he was that they weren't anti-werewolf, still found the subject quite uncomfortable. He was casting around for something else to talk about when Sirius and Alli burst into the common room, doubled over in laughter, effectively destroying his need for a different topic.

"We were wondering what happened to you guys!" James told them.

"What's so funny?" Julie asked.

"Becca's got a boyfriend," Alli told them in a sing-song voice, before crumpling onto the couch next to them, once again laughing hysterically.

"Boyfriend?" Sirius asked in between laughs. "More like snog partner!" This time everyone else joined in.

"How did you find out?" Lily asked.

"We walked in on 'em!" Sirius told her.

"Luckily they didn't notice us," explained Alli in between giggles. "So we hid, and then Sirius conjured a bucket of water and dumped it right on top of them!"

"You should have seen the looks on their faces!" Sirius gasped, now positively howling in remembrance.

"So did they see you?" James asked curiously.

At that moment they were distracted by Rebecca, who walked into the common room completely soaked.

"Carter! Black!" She shrieked, looking absolutely venomous.

"That answers your question," Remus told James as Sirius and Alli ran off for their separate rooms.

XXXXXX

To Lily, Julie, Peter, Remus, and James's disappointment, Alli did indeed help Sirius with his paper, and they both got good grades to boot.

"Our plan's ruined!" Peter complained to the group. "They were supposed to be _punished_ for not finishing it till the night before!"

It was almost October, and then seven teenagers decided to spend their free afternoon outdoors. They sat out under a tree near the lake, talking. Alli noted that it was the same tree she and Sirius had laid under almost two weeks ago.

"Well, McGonagall may not have been the first to assign a paper, but she was the first to pull a pop quiz." Lily stated.

"I hate it when she does that!" Julie exclaimed. "Then I always spend the next couple days worrying until I get my results. I'm always afraid I'll get bad grades on pop quizzes, without the study time we usually get."

"You always get good grades anyway though," Remus told her, causing her to turn pink.

"I hate McGonagall!" Sirius cried, propping himself up off the ground on his elbows.

"You always say that about any teacher who assigns work you don't want to do." Alli informed him.

"You know me too well," he said, grinning at her.

"Yes, she does Padfoot." James agreed. "Now shut it."

"My, my, my," said Sirius, faking concern. "Look who's grumpy today."

"Whatever," James said irritably. "I just wish quidditch practice would start already!"

"It's only one more week James." Alli said, trying to sound consoling. James glared at her. "What?"

"You're not helping."

"Fine, I won't say anything."

"Fine, be that way."

"Fine, I will."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Shut up!" Both James and Alli jumped when Lily unexpectedly joined the argument.

"Should we really let her talk to us like that, James?" Alli asked.

"Of course not," James agreed, smiling. "She'll have to pay, obviously." And he and Alli proceeded to chase Lily around the lakeside. Remus, Sirius, and Peter joined in cheering for Alli and James, while Julie whooped and yelled for Lily.

Soon Lily was stuck. It was either surrender or fall into the lake behind her.

"You've got no where to go Lils," James said triumphantly.

"Come on," Alli added playfully. "Just give up and we won't hurt you too bad."

"I'll never give up!" Lily announced, with fake courage.

"Well then," said James. "Prepare to meet your doom."

"You tickle her stomach and I'll get her armpits." Alli instructed, and as James nodded, they began to move forward. Lily, panicking at the threat of being tickled, forgot about the lake behind her and began to back up too. She screamed as she tripped and almost fell in, but James grabbed her hand and pulled her back up to a balance.

"Thanks Potter," Lily said, smiling. Her hand was still in his, and James felt his stomach flip-flopping and his face turning red. Then Lily tripped him into the lake.

"Yes! Ha! I can't believe you actually fell for that!" She cried, punching the air in victory. She was distracted from her celebration when James came up, coughing and sputtering.

"Holy shit it's cold!" He yelled, causing everyone within hearing distance to laugh.

(A/N) Well, there you have it. Chapter 5 will be up hopefully very soon! You should know what to do now!


	5. Chapter 5 Problems

(A/N) Here she be, the chapter five! She was a hard one to write, I'll have you know. I've got more thought in this chapter then the others. I kept changing the order of things, and what would happen, and when. I'm suprised I actually got it finished!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed for the last chapter! I love reading reviews! It just makes me all happy inside! To rockergurl13 - I feel so sorry for you! School is truly aristocracy! And not to mention, student teachers are just aliens trying to take over the world! ... what? I'm not crazy! And if I'm crazy, then so is Zack!

* * *

Chapter Five – Problems

"Oh! Oh Goddammit! I think I've lost it!

Oh God, Goddammit! I think I've lost you!"

Hot Hot Heat – Oh Goddammit! (A/N – Great song!)

Lily, Julie, and Alli were in the library working on transfiguration homework. Or, rather, Lily and Julie were. Alli was off in some other world, complaining very loudly about being stuck in the library with them, until Madam Pince threatened to give her a whole week's worth of detentions. Then, to her friends' relief, she was finally silent.

"Man Al, no offense, but you're killer when you're PMSing." Lily moaned.

"Oh shut yer trap!" Alli retorted, her fear of Madam Pince causing her to talk quietly.

"Hey, girls, look over there!" The two arguing friends looked up to see Julie pointing to a group of five boys over at a table across the room.

"I know that one," Alli told them, pointing to a tall dark-haired one. "He's on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. Those must be his friends."

"Well put, Miss Obvious," said Lily dryly.

"See the blonde one." Julie asked. "He's in Divination with me. He keeps looking over here. What d'you think is up?"

"Maybe he's madly in love with you," laughed Alli.

"Don't look now, but he's coming over." Lily hissed, causing Alli to promptly stop laughing. The blonde was indeed, walking towards them. He stopped right in front of Julie.

"Excuse me, Miss Marshall. I'm not sure if you know me. My name's Rick Lesher, I'm in your Divination class."

"Yes, I know you." Julie nodded.

"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind helping me with that homework we have to do. I know you're one of the best students in the class," At this, Julie turned bright pink and Alli raised her eyebrows at Lily. "And I could probably use the help."

"Um … well, yeah, sure. When were you thinking?"

"How about tomorrow after supper?" He said, adding quickly, "Unless you already have plans, that is."

"No, no I'm free." Julie said. "Meet here, in the library?"

"That's great! See you tomorrow!" He said, smiling at her, and walked back over to his fellow Hufflepuffs.

"Well Julie, looks like you have yourself a date." Alli said proudly, causing Julie to jump.

"Date?" She said. "He wasn't asking me out! He was just asking for help with schoolwork!"

"Oh puh-lease! He was totally head over heels for you!" Alli argued.

"Get a grip Alli!" Lily told them. At the rate she kept getting interrupted, she'd never finish this stupid transfiguration essay. "You're both right, ok?"

"Right about what?" A new voice asked, making all three girls jump. Sirius had just walked up behind them, along with James, Remus, and Peter.

"You four? Voluntarily in a library?" Alli asked.

"Contrary to popular belief, the Marauders can walk into a library without exploding, bursting into flames, or turning purple." Remus informed her.

"That always was my favorite rumor," Sirius said, grinning. "Anywho, you didn't answer me."

"This guy from Divination just came and asked Julie to help him with their homework." Lily told him, before Alli could say anything that would make the story come off wrong. Alli wasexceptionally good at making the story come across wrong. Lily didn't think there was hope for her.

"It's obvious he likes her though!" Alli added, making Julie blush for the second time in the past couple minutes. "You'll be asked for a date after this, mark my words!"

"You really think he likes me?" Julie asked, as though the idea were ludicrous.

"It's totally obvious!" Alli cried.

"And Julie should trust what you say because…?" Sirius asked.

"Because _I _have experience with these kinds of things." Alli said smugly.

"Great," Julie sighed. "This is the last thing I wanted to deal with. What am I gonna say?"

"Say yes," said Alli simply.

"But I don't know anything about him!"

"Besides the fact that he's in your Divination class, that he's a 7th year Hufflepuff, and that his name's Rick Lesher?" Alli prompted.

"Yeah, I suppose," Julie consented.

"It's obvious he likes you, and he's hot. Just say yes."

"You know, we did come into the library to work on transfiguration, not chat about the 'supposedly' hot Hufflepuff guy who's 'supposedly' going to ask Julie out." Lily pointed out. James, Sirius, and Peter were still standing there, just watching the progression of the argument and wondering how girls came to the conclusions they did. Remus, however, was in deep thought.

When Alli had said that this guy obviously liked Julie and was going to ask, he'd felt his throat constrict, and he suddenly had the urge to find this Rick Lesher guy and lock him in the dungeons. Why was he so angry all of a sudden? It wasn't his business whether or not guys asked Julie out. But for some reason it irked him. He didn't want this guy to ask her out. He didn't want her to say yes. But why? Was he suddenly going crazy or something?

"So!" Alli yelled. "Who cares about transfiguration? This is important!"

"News flash Alli, school work _is_ important." Lily said.

"Yes, but right now, this is more so!" Alli told her. Lily rolled her eyes. "I know who we can talk to about this! Becca!" And she grabbed Julie's wrist with one hand a Lily's with the other, and began to drag them towards the door.

"Hold it!" Lily yelled. Alli froze, and Lily reached back, grabbed all their papers and books and stuffed them into her bag. "Okay." Alli continued to drag them until they got out the door, and the last thing the boys heard was Julie crying, "But he hasn't even asked me out yet!"

XXXXXX

The next day, Julie met Rick Lesher in the library. By the time they'd been there for two hours or so, Julie's nerves were almost entirely calm. Rick was sweet, polite, and a good student. When she explained things, he listened carefully and was always right the next time around. Julie found that she enjoyed being around him, and she had almost forgot about the possibility of being asked out until he said, "we should probably be leaving soon." Then her worries came back in full force.

She'd been asked out before, but for some reason this was bothering her more than any other time. She liked being around him, but she felt, deep inside, that she should tell him no. She didn't have a reason to think that, and her friends had all said that she should say yes. She didn't understand why she was making such a big deal out of this anyway.

"Um, Julie, can I ask you something?' He asked as they left the library.

_Come on Julie. You've dealt with stuff like this before, _she thought to herself, then said "Yeah, sure."

"Um, I was just wondering if, maybe you'd consider, um… going out with me?"

_Why would you say no? _She asked herself. _He's a really nice guy, who genuinely seems to care about you, and you should at least give him a chance. You're not holding out for anyone else, are you? _As if on cue, Remus flashed through her mind. Julie blinked repeatedly to clear her vision. _I don't like Remus Lupin! He's just a friend! And it's not like he'd ever ask me out anyway! I should just say yes to Rick. _

"Ok, sure." Julie said finally, smiling at him. "What do you want to do?" Rick beamed at her, then launched into an explanation of his plan.

XXXXXX

"So," Alli said triumphantly as Julie walked back into the common room. She, Lily, Becca, and the Marauders (excluding Peter) were sitting around on the couches, waiting for her to get back.

"So," She repeated.

"He asked you out, didn't he?" Becca, asked, finishing what Alli had been meaning to say. Alli and Becca were the ones who had the "boy knowledge" of the group.

Julie nodded. Remus choked.

"Told ya!" Alli said, pumping her fists in the air. "What did you say?''

"We're meeting on Saturday at Hogsmeade." Julie told them. Becca and Alli looked at each other significantly, and Remus tried to look calm, although his insides were boiling.James, however, looked startled.

"There's a Hogsmeade visit this weekend?" He asked. Lily rolled her eyes at him.

"Of course there is Potter." She said angrily. "And you would know if you'd been paying attention to our meeting with McGonagall on Monday. She told us that the first visit is this weekend, and we're to decide on the days for the rest of them. You really should try listening. It helps a great deal."

The truth was that James had been staring at Lily when he missed this crucial bit of info at the meeting. She had looked so beautiful, he couldn't help it. He did at least remember that they were supposed to plan the rest of the Hogsmeade visits.

"I know how to listen, my dear Lily." He told her, trying not to get angry at the insults she had thrown his way. "I just didn't remember her saying there was a visit this weekend. That's all; nothing life-threatening." Lily rolled her eyes again.

"I think I'm going upstairs." Julie said trying to get away from any kind of fight before it started. She needed to think anyway. "Goodnight."

XXXXXX

_Why did I think about Remus then? _Julie asked herself as she lay down in bed. _He's a nice guy, who's considerate, caring, polite, and good at school, _she answered herself. _He always listens to whatever people have to say, and tries to respect them. Unless they're Slytherins, but I can understand that. And he may be a little troublesome, but only when he's with his friends. Everyone, even I can get a little troublesome at times. He's an all around good guy, I guess. _

_But just because I think that, doesn't mean I have to like him, _Julie thought. _I must have lost it or something. __I've got a date with a nice guy, and he may even become my official boyfriend soon. I don't like Remus. _

Hearing her friends coming upstairs, she closed her eyes and rolled to her side, as if she were sleeping. She didn't want them to ask her questions now, not when she was so confused about herself.

XXXXXX

Remus lay in bed, wide awake, long after everyone else in his room had fallen asleep.

Did he like Julie? He didn't know how he felt anymore. _She's nice to you, and nice to other people, _his conscious reasoned with him. _She has good friends, is intelligent, and quite pretty. She's perfect! _

_That's just it though! _Remus told himself. _She's too good for me! Even if I were to ask her out, she wouldn't say yes. She would only go out with a good-looking, nice guy. _

_But you are a good-looking, nice guy! You just don't want to get involved in anything with her because you think that if she found out you were a werewolf, she would be scared of you, even hate you!_

_Hasn't it been proven that that's what always happens? _Remus asked. _Werewolves are feared by society, shunned, and no one would ever love one! _

_But you heard what she told Lily! She said that people should be trying to understand them, not shun them! _

_Well, she hasn't ever met one! What if she finds out what I am and changes her mind? _

_It's still worth a try! You know you like her! Tell her!_

Remus sat up in bed. "Oh damn it!" He whispered. He was too late. Julie had already agreed to go out with that Lesher guy. How come he couldn't have realized how much he liked her one day sooner?

It didn't matter. He didn't want to risk a relationship anyway. He would just end up hurting her, somehow. It wasn't worth the pain. _As long as she has a boyfriend she likes, I'm happy, _he thought. _At least, I think I am. _

He lay back down, and heard Sirius mumble something about taking clothes off in his sleep. Glad he couldn't see what his girl-crazed friend was dreaming about, he closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep. It took him a while.

* * *

(A/N) NO! (multiple exclamation points) I start high school in a week! (more exclamation points) What did I do to deserve this? (multiple question marks) I need to calm down! (deep breathing) Ok, I'm fine.

I wrote this chapter while listening to Smash Mouth. Good Music! Oh, and then I edited it while listening to Dashboard Confessional! Even better! Ok, I'm just now realizing that I'm hyper! Off to find chocolate!

Please, please review! I need the extra suuport! Before I go mad with nerves! Stupid high school!


	6. Chapter 6 Late Night Conversations

(A/N) Tada! Another chapter done! (takes a bow) Thanks so much for the lovely reviews everyone! Alas, I've heard tell that the big people have banned direct comments to readers! This ruins my fun! I love letting readers know how much their reviews mean to me! Let me take this moment to impress on you how much you are appreciated! And now, on with the chapter!

* * *

Chapter Six – Late Night Conversations

"Going under, drowning in you,

I'm falling forever, I've got to

Break through, I can't keep going under."

Evanescence – Going Under

"So, Becca? Who's your latest guy?"

It was Thursday, after classes had ended, and Lily, Julie, Alli, Becca, and Alice were sitting on their beds, chatting about school. And, of course, that meant talking about boys.

"Actually, I'm still with Derek." Becca answered Julie.

"Who?" Alice asked.

"Derek Porton, Ravenclaw 7th year?"

"Oh,"

"And while we're on the topic of boyfriends," Becca said, looking pleased. "Did I tell you that Julie's dating Rick Lesher?"

"It's only one date!" Julie cried, looking flushed.

"It may only be one date, but the bug question is, do you think there'll be a follow-up?" Becca asked.

"I honestly don't know yet." Julie told her. "And why is it such a bug deal? Yeah, I'm going on a date. Oh my god, it could be the end of the world!" Lily, Alli, and Alice laughed, while Becca rolled her eyes.

"Lily, had James asked you out yet?" Alice asked.

"What d'you think?" Lily asked sarcastically. "Of course he has!"

"I guess it's too much to hope for that you've finally said yes?" Alice asked, looking quite put-out.

"Not a chance," Lily cried. "In fact, I…"

At that point, all five girls were distracted by an owl flying right into the window. Alice got up, let it in, than said, "Lily, it's for you."

Lily took the letter and read:

"_Miss Evans, _

_This is a reminder that tomorrow morning after your transfiguration class, you and Mr. Potter need to stay behind. I need the list of Hogsmeade visit days you've come up with. I expect you to let Potter know about this meeting. _

_Professor McGonagall."_

"Oh shit!" Lily cried. "We haven't done the list!" And without any further word of explanation she flew from the room. Alli, Julie, Becca, and Alice looked at each other.

"That was weird," said Julie.

"Way weird," said Becca.

"Moving on," said Alice.

"Any crushes, my dear Miss Farrow?" Alli asked, grinning at bringing their previous topic back. Alice groaned.

XXXXXX

Lily ran across the common room and up to James' room. When she knocked, their room mate Frank Longbottom answered the door. James and Sirius were sitting on their beds, and Remus was sitting on a couch. All of them looked shocked at their sudden visitor.

Lily walked over to James, grabbed his hand, and dragged him out the door.

"What did I do?" James asked, thoroughly enjoying Lily's hand in his.

"We haven't made that list for McGonagall yet!" Lily cried, pulling him down the stairs.

"Oh yeah," said James, realization dawning.

"I can't believe I forgot!" Lily moaned, dragging him towards a table near the fireplace. "I've been so busy with homework, and with this whole Julie-dating thing, and you haven't helped!"

"How?"

"You never once reminded me about the list!"

"Yeah, I guess I forgot too. Funny how things work like that."

Lily stopped and pointed to a chair. "Sit," she ordered. James sat, and she sat across from his. Lily noticed that her hand felt cold the minute she let go of James', but she dismissed it and began to talk instead.

"Ok, we need to plan for the days when there should be Hogsmeade visits. Ideas, please? I thought there should be one on Halloween, and of course one before Christmas, so people can shop…"

_Well this is nice,_ James thought. _I get to spend time with Lily, even if it's related to school work. Maybe tonight will be better than I thought. _

XXXXXX

"So Prongsie, did our Lily-flower finally realize that she's madly in love with you and drag you somewhere private to snog you senseless?"

"My dear Padfoot, don't you think about anything other than snogging?" Remus asked, making space for James to sit on the couch too.

"Of course I do!" Sirius cried, affronted.

"I guess you're probably right, considering what I heard you saying in your sleep a few nights ago." Remus agreed, causing James and Frank to laugh.

"I was talking in my sleep?" Sirius asked nervously. "What did I say?"

"Nothing," said Remus airily, enjoying the scared look on his friend's face. "Anyway, what was that about, James?"

"We had to make a list of Hogsmeade weekends to give to McGonagall tomorrow." James told them.

"That reminds me, I need to figure out who I'm gonna ask out this time," Sirius said. "I was thinking about asking Lacey Carlton. Y'know, that blonde from Ravenclaw?"

"Didn't you go with her in fifth year?" James asked.

"Yeah, so?"

"She was kinda an airhead, but whatever."

"I think I'm gonna ask Alice Farrow," Frank told them, looking awkward.

"Finally!" Sirius exclaimed. "How long have you liked her?"

Frank looked surprised. "Um, I don't know. Probably a while."

"Good luck," Remus told Frank, who smiled nervously. "Are you planning on asking Lily again, James?"

"I don't know." James said. "I don't ever plan on when I ask her, it just happens."

"The next time we see the girls, he'll ask her before five minutes are up." Sirius said surely, causing James to whack him on the head with a pillow.

XXXXX

"Nice to see you at last, Mr. Potter." McGonagall said sharply, looking up as James entered the room.

"Sorry I'm a little late professor," James said, putting on the charm and sitting down next to Lily. "I had some things to take care of." Things had actually been running into Snape in the hallway on the way there, and cursing him for calling Lily a Mudblood.

"Five points from Gryffindor for your tardiness." McGonagall said. "Now, on with the meeting. Where is your list?"

"Right here professor," Lily said, handing the list to her. McGonagall looked it over, and finally said "Well done you two. I trust you didn't need my reminder to get it done on time?"

"No Ma'am," Lily lied smoothly. James was surprised; he'd never heard Lily lie before.

"Of course not, professor," he played along.

"Good," McGonagall nodded. "This list isn't the only reason you're here. Your patrolling duties start next Monday night. You will be patrolling from 11pm to midnight, Monday through Friday. The older prefects do patrolling from 10 to 11, and the ghosts take over after you leave. The professors patrol weekends to give you a bit of a break. Understood?"

"Yes professor," Lily and James chorused.

"That is all. You're dismissed."

As soon as they were far enough down the hall, Lily sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I was so sure she would notice I was lying." She told him, sounding relieved.

"Not a chance." James told her honestly. "You were great."

Lily looked at him. "Really?" He nodded. "Well, it's not something I should be proud of, I guess, but at least we didn't get in trouble." She looked startled when James began to laugh at her. "What?"

"You're always the perfect student." He told her through laughs. "I didn't think you could pull off something that wasn't allowed."

"Well, for your information, Mr. Potter," Lily said, pretending to be offended. "I don't always follow the rules.

"Really?"

"Yes, and to prove it… race you down the hall!" And she took off, a laughing James at her heels.

XXXXXX

That night, James couldn't sleep. He was thinking about Lily. This year, he was already getting closer to her. He'd found out more about her in the past couple weeks than he had in the several years he'd known her. It seemed like the Marauders were slowly becoming friend with Lily and her group. Knowing he'd never get to sleep, he decided to sneak down to the kitchens, maybe for hot chocolate or something. When he got there, he got another surprise.

Lily was sitting on a chair, in a yellow camisole and gray sweatpants, drinking hot chocolate and chatting animatedly with one of the house elves.

"Well, I think this just adds to our earlier conversation." He said, making her jump and spin around to face him. When she saw him, she looked relieved; as though she was happy he wasn't someone there to rat on her.

"You mean the one where you had never though I would be one to break rules?" She asked him, smiling.

"That one exactly," he said. "Mind if I sit with you?"

She shook her head, causing her long red hair to sway, and conjured a chair.

"Is there anything we can get for you, Mr. Potter?" The house elf who had been talking to Lily asked.

"Sure, how about a hot chocolate?"

"Of course," said the house elf with a bow. "Right away sir." And she walked off.

"How did you figure out how to get here?" James asked, trying to stop an awkward silence.

"Alli and I were exploring in our fourth year." Lily said simply.

"Sirius and I've got you beat." He told her. "We found it at the end of second."

"Well you _are_ the Marauders," she pointed out. "That's kind of expected."

The house elf came back, carrying a mug of hot chocolate and gave it to James.

"Do you come down here often?" James asked, trying again to keep a conversation going.

"Not really." She answered him. "Only when I'm really having trouble sleeping. I don't always come down here anyway; sometimes I'll just go sit in the common room or something." Lily stopped talking abruptly, realizing that she'd been saying more than she wanted to. This was James Potter she was talking to. She hadn't even realized she'd been describing her sleeping habits to someone she was supposed to hate. What was going on with her?

They'd both finished their drinks, so James decided to try something rash.

"Hey, Lily? Would you walk back with me?"

Lily looked at him. "Uh… sure," she said, with no idea why. James' heart jumped for joy.

"So, you looking forward to patrolling?" Lily asked as they walked, trying to break an awkward silence. James started. Lily wasn't yelling at him or cursing him! This was marvelous!

"Sure, I guess. What are they like?" He knew she'd been a prefect, so she should be able to answer him.

"Well, there's not much to do. Just make sure that no one's out of bed when they aren't supposed to be. And then you always have to break up the snogging couples you run into. I like it though, because it's an excuse to stay up late." _There I go again! _Lily thought. _Why do I keep saying things I don't mean to? _

"Do you need an excuse to stay up late?" James asked playfully.

"I guess not," Lily said as they approached the fat lady's portrait. "It's just that an excuse makes it more fun."

"Dragon's snout," James said to the fat lady, waking her up. She glared but let them in, still to sleepy to question. "Well, I'll see you later tomorrow, I guess."

"Yeah," Lily said, stopping in front of the stairs up to her room.

"'Night Lily." James smiled at her, and she felt her stomach do something she didn't recognize. She decided to ignore it, however, and went upstairs to bed, leaving James happier than he'd been all month.

* * *

(A/N) Well, there's chappie number six! I'm going to try to getseven up either today or tomorrow. I'm trying to get as many chapters posted as I can before school starts, because I don't know how often I'll be able to post then. 

Please review! It's kinda this chain-reaction-thing. You review, I write faster, chapter gets posted faster! So, review away!


	7. Chapter 7 Insecurity

(A/N) Well, I said I'd have another chapter up either today or tomorrow, and here it is! This one was probably the hardest one to write so far! It looks like my only reviewer got her wish! Everybody do me a favor: review for this chappie, and I'll get chapter 8 up within the next couple days. I'm not putting up chappie 8 until I get at least 4 reviews. That's my norm for each chapter. Well, here it is!

* * *

Chapter Seven – Insecurity

"Oh, I live a lie; oh I live a lie,

Oh why even try?

But I've been leaving thoughts below

Still I feel I should know."

Default – Live a Lie

"And then she actually agreed to walk back with me, and … are you even listening?" James questioned his best friend, who was currently staring out the window.

"What?" Sirius asked obliviously, causing James to roll his eyes. "Uhh, o-oh yeah! I was listening!"

"Whatever," mumbled James. "What are you looking at anyway?" He strode over to the window as well, and saw Lily, Julie, and Alli sitting by the lake, chatting. He followed Sirius' gaze exactly, until he saw,

"Alli Carter! You're staring at Alli Carter?"

Sirius turned red. "No! No, of course not!" He didn't sound very convincing, and James, as his best friend, could easily tell he was lying. He didn't have time to ask for explanations though, because Sirius quickly got up and nearly ran from the room.

"Since when does Sirius get embarrassed over a girl?" James asked the empty room, confused. It wasn't like his womanizing friend to blush when girls were mentioned, or avoid any mention of his staring at them. Usually he was quite open about the fact that he was staring at a certain girl. _I just hope Sirius knows what he's in for, _he thought. _Alli isn't one to put up with obvious flirting and the kind of antics he's famous for. If she doesn't like him back, he's in for the biggest refusal of his life. _

XXXXXX

It was the end of Herbology, and Lily, Julie, and Alli were sitting together, waiting to find out what their homework was.

"I want you all to do two rolls of parchment on the uses of these plants in spells and potions, and the importance of them, due to me, October 7th." Professor Jordan told them. "You are dismissed."

As soon as these words were out of his mouth, the students got up and began to leave.

"I'm telling you, I wasn't staring at Carter!" Sirius insisted to James.

"What were you doing then? Trying to make sure she was female?" James retorted back.

Remus shook his head. These two had been at it since the middle of the class, when James brought up catching his best friend watching the blonde, and it was getting on his nerves. Sirius was only incriminating himself by arguing, and James was only making himself look stupid by arguing back. It was pointless banter, and at any time the girls would walk by and hear them. Then, whether Sirius liked Alli or not, he would end up in pain. Alli was famous for having as much of a temper as her red-headed best friend. Hearing anyone mention Sirius "trying to make sure she was female" would surely set off the anger.

"I _don't_ like her," Sirius was saying when Remus came back to the real world. "And to prove it, I'll go ask Lacey to Hogsmeade, like I _originally_ planned on doing until _someone_ started to argue with me."

James decided not to point out that Sirius had been the one who started it, so he settled with watching his friend turn on the charm as he walked over to Lacey and her friends.

"Hey Lacey," said Sirius smoothly. "Would you mind accompanying me to Hogsmeade this weekend?"

Lacey fluttered her eyelashes. "Of course I will Sirius." She said giggly, while her friends looked on with a mixture of happiness and jealousy. Alli stared at Sirius with wide eyes, looking almost hurt, then said "Go on ahead. I'll meet you in Charms," and hurried from the room.

"You reckon we might want to follow her?" Julie asked Lily, who shook her head.

"No." Lily told her. "We should leave her be for now. We can talk to her in class, or later on tonight."

"I wonder why she's so upset with Sirius for asking someone else to Hogsmeade." Julie said. "I mean, she never said anything to us about wanting him to ask her. Hell, she hasn't even admitted that she likes him yet!"

"Maybe she isn't sure," Lily said. "But at any rate, it is very strange."

XXXXXX

_What is wrong with me?_ Alli asked herself a she walked down a hallway on the way to Charms. _Why do I care if he asks some chick to go with him to Hogsmeade? That's his problem, not mine! I don't care about him! _She stopped walking as she remembered the times she'd been with him, hanging out at James' place, or running into each other at Diagon Ally. Then she remembered that day by the lake, when he'd chased her because he wanted her to help him with his essay. His hair was out of the norm and messy, and his eyes sparkled with happiness. When he'd smiled at her, when they lay on the grass, she could feel her heart melt.

_I'm in love with Sirius! _Alli realized. _Oh great, what do I do? _She thought as she began to walk again out of frustration. _I can't like him! This is Sirius Black we're talking about, the player who's never spent more than a week with one girl! If I were to go out with him, he would dump me before I could say I loved him! And it's not like he likes me anyway. He just asked out some blonde bimbo! What am I gonna do now? I know, _Alli smiled at her idea. _Two can play at this game. _

Before going into the Classroom, she called a tall, brown-haired 7th year over to her.

"Hi Raoul," she said. "Would you go with me to Hogsmeade this weekend?"

Raoul looked pleased at his good luck. "Yeah, sure thing Alli."

"Good. Meet me at the Three Broomsticks?"

"Ok, see you then." He agreed.

"Bye," waved Alli, entering the classroom with a huge smile on her face.

"Over here Al!" Julie called, signaling her. She and Lily were sitting at a table in the middle of the room, and the Marauders had sat behind them. _Perfect, _Alli though happily as she sat next to them.

"What took so long?" Lily asked.

"Sorry guys, I was busy." Alli told them. They gave her looks of curiosity, which she decided to answer. "I just asked Raoul Marquay to come to Hogsmeade with me." She said loudly, making sure Sirius would hear her.

"That good-looking Ravenclaw prefect?" Lily asked.

"Yep," said Alli, sounding delighted. "We're meeting at the Three Broomsticks."

"Now Becca can stop harassing me about being the only one with a date!" Julie said excitedly. "She can bug you too! Have I ever mentioned how much I appreciate you?"

"Many times," Alli said, noting the horrified look on Sirius' face. Her plan seemed to be working.

XXXXXX

"Hi Rick," Julie said as she walked up to her date, who was standing Honeydukes waiting for her.

"Hey Julie," he said. "Want to go in?"

"Yes please," Julie exclaimed. "Me and the girls are nearly out of chocolate." He laughed and led her in.

XXXXXX

James, Remus and Peter were sitting at a table in the Three Broomsticks with Sirius and Lacey, as well as a couple of her friends, and they were irritated. Lacey's friends were all very ditzy and had taken to flirting with them. Sirius was sweet-talking Lacey, while every once and a while looking up to the door, as though watching for someone. James and Remus, out of boredom, had taken to watching the door as well, naming people as they walked in, and ignoring the girls trying to flirt with them.

"There's Gilderoy Lockhart, a fourth year Hufflepuff, I think." Remus said.

"And with him is Alli's younger brother Ryan, also a fourth year." James pointed out.

"And, wait. That's Lily!" Remus and James watched as Lily stormed into the pub, looking very peeved. Alli and Raoul followed her in, causing Sirius to look up, but they went to the opposite side of the room. Raoul looked concernedly at Lily, but Alli wasn't even looking at her. Lily went to an empty table a few away from the boys, folded her arms across her chest, and looked pointedly away from Alli.

"We should go see what's up with Lily," said Remus, getting up. James nodded and got up as well.

"I'm coming too," said Peter, and, leaving Sirius with his date and her companions, they walked over to Lily's table.

"Hey, mind if we sit here?" James asked, pointing at the seats across from her. Lily looked up, shocked.

"Sure," she said simply, and they sat. She looked down again, avoiding their eyes.

"What's up with Alli?" Remus asked carefully.

"Nothing," Lily snapped, head still down. They were silent for a minute, before she shook her head. "Julie's with this Lesher guy, and Alli's with Marquay, and neither of them had any though for me. And then Ali had the nerve to…" But the she shut up. Alli had told her when they arrived in Hogsmeade that she was only going with Raoul to make Sirius jealous. She was merely paying him back for asking some other airhead out. The whole thing just pissed her off! Lily didn't think that Alli should be using some random guy, just because she wanted to get back at someone. It wasn't right! And then she left Lily alone, without anything. She just said "Lily, please understand! I need Sirius to think I really like Raoul, for this to work, so we need to be alone." It was wrong! Lily wasn't about to tell two of Sirius' friend about Alli's real intentions though.

James and Remus looked at her strangely. "What did Alli do?" James asked. He thought he might have an idea, but he wanted to be sure.

"We won't tell Sirius anything." Remus told her, seeing the look in her eyes. "Right you guys?"

James nodded. "Right. Sirius told me earlier that he'd never need my help to get a girl, so he's not getting any help from me."

"And its entertaining watching these fights unfold." Peter told her. "Anyway, he needs the challenge."

"Or his ego's going to get too big for any of us to handle." Remus added.

Lily could tell that they were telling the truth. Maybe it was in their eyes, or the way they talked, but it made sense. So, she began to explain.

XXXXXX

"Is there anything you want to get?" Julie asked Rick, inside the candy shop.

"You go ahead and look," he told her, making her smile.

"Ok, well, I need chocolate," she said, walking over to a counter with all different kinds.

"How about this one?" her date asked, picking up a chocolate bar with almonds in it.

"That sounds good," Julie said. "Oh, and we need this one for Lily." She picked up a bar of white chocolate.

"Hey, Rick!" Julie turned and saw someone she recognized as one of Rick's friends from the library, the one Alli had said she knew.

"Whatcha up to, Ian?" Rick asked.

"Just here with Nora," the blonde boy told them, smiling charmingly at the girl with him. She was a tall, pretty, raven-haired girl, who was also in Julie and Rick's Divination class. "Who's this?" Ian asked, looking at Julie.

Rick grinned. "This gorgeous lady is Miss Julie Marshall, from Gryffindor." He told them smoothly. Julie noticed that his nice guy persona was gone, now that he was around his friends. He was acting like Sirius would sometimes, being flirty and charismatic. It was strange.

"You're in divination with us, aren't you?" Nora asked.

"Yeah," Julie told her. Then Ian leaned over and whispered something in Rick's ear. Rick whispered something back, causing Ian to laugh.

"They do this a lot," Nora explained quietly to Julie. "Unless it's just me with them. Then they say whatever the hell they want. They're probably talking about something they don't want to say in front of you."

"Oh," Julie said, feeling uncomfortable with the whole thing. Nora seemed to understand how Julie was feeling, because she said "Come on Ian. I want to go find that bubblegum we came in here for."

"Alright babe," Ian said. "Nice to meet you, Marshall. See you Rick." He winked at Rick as Nora took his hand and led him to the back of the store. Rick just laughed and rolled his eyes.

"Hey Rick?"

"Yeah Julie?"

There he was, acting sweet again. "Um, can we go out somewhere?"

"We have to pay for your chocolate first." He told her.

"I know, after that."

"Where do you want to go?"

"Um, just outside."  
"Alright," he said as they walked up to the register. As soon as they were all paid for, he took her hand and led her out the door. "I know just the place." He told her. "Follow me."

"Right," she said. Rick led her down a path and when they came out of the trees, Julie gasped. They were up on a cliff looking down on a gorgeous valley, complete with a winding river and everything. It was a perfect view.

"Rick, this is wonderful!" She breathed, looking around.

He grinned almost smugly. "I knew you'd think so. Come sit here." He pointed to a spot, almost at the cliff's edge. He sat, and she sat next to him. "From this spot, you can see the whole valley."

"It's beautiful," Julie sighed, letting herself relax for the first time all day.

"You're beautiful," Rick told her softly, smoothly. Julie shivered slightly at the tone in his voice. He leaned forward, and their lips met. Any doubts she had about dating him were forgotten as she wrapped her arms around his neck, lost in the moment. Back at the Three Broomsticks, however, things weren't going so well.


	8. Chapter 8 Of Fighting and Revenge

(A/N) Hey everybody! I'm back! I feel so deprived, considering that I haven't been on the computer in a week straight! Oh, the horrors!

(gets distracted and starts rocking out to The All American Rejects - Swing Swing)

Anywho...! Please read! I'll ramble on at the end, so you don't have to wait even longer to read the chappie!

* * *

Chapter Eight – Of Fighting and Revenge

"I'm tugging at my hair; I'm pulling at my clothes,

I'm trying to keep my cool, I know it shows.

I'm staring at my feet; my cheeks are turning red,

I'm searching for the words inside my head.

And I'm feeling nervous, trying to be so perfect,

Cause I know you're worth it, you're worth it, yeah."

Avril Lavigne – Things I'll never say

"So Alli likes Sirius?" Remus asked, not sure of what he was hearing.

Lily nodded. "At least, I think so. She said she's trying to make him jealous, so it seems pretty clear that she does."

"I thought she might." James said. "The way she looked at him when he asked Carlton."

"So this is a revenge plot?" Peter asked. Again Lily just nodded. "It seems to be working the way she wants it to." He pointed over to Sirius, who was practically ignoring the Lacey hanging from his neck as he watched Alli flirt openly with Raoul.

"Damn," mumbled Lily, causing James to jump. "This is bound to get very nasty."

"You just swore," James gasped, sounding surprised.

Lily looked at him, laughter in her eyes. "Of course I just swore. You're slower than I thought. "

"I've never heard you curse before," he told her as explanation.

"Men are so ignorant." Lily stated. "Just because you haven't heard something, doesn't mean it isn't true. I know what you think. You think that just because I'm a good student and I never break the rules that I'd never dream of cussing."

James knew she'd hit the nail on the head, but he didn't want to tell her so. He was spared the necessity of answering by Rosmerta the bartender.

"Hey Lily! Hey you guys!"

"Hi Rosie, how are you?" Lily greeted, shocking the boys. They had no idea Lily was close with Rosmerta.

"I'm good, you?" Rosmerta asked.

"I'm fine," Lily said unconvincingly.

"Come on Lil, I know you're lying." Rosmerta said. "Something's up with you, and with Alli. What's going on?"

"It's a long story," said Lily, obviously trying to avoid it.

"Well then," Rosie said. "I'll bring drinks and you can tell me when I get back. Butterbeer for everyone?" There was a round of yes's around the table. "Right, be back in a few."

"I didn't know you were close with Rosmerta." James said.

"Yeah," Lily said. "She's kinda like a sister to me, Alli and Julie. She knows all about us. We come here to hang with her every summer vacation, and whenever we get the chance during the year."

"Uh, guys? Sorry to interrupt, but I think this so-called 'war' just got worse." Peter told them, causing everyone to look towards Alli and Sirius and their dates.

Sirius had responded to Alli temptation by trying to make her jealous as well. He was now cooing things in Lacey's ear, while his hands rubbed her shoulders. She appeared to be enjoying this very much. Alli's retaliation was to scoot closer to Raoul, who took the opportunity to snake his arm around her waist. When Lacey climbed into Sirius' lap though, it seemed to be the last straw. Alli put a hand on Raoul's shoulder and kissed him.

Sirius' jaw dropped, and Lacey didn't even notice. Rosmerta, who was walking over to Lily's table with the butterbeer, nearly dropped them when she saw.

"What in Merlin's name was that?" She asked Lily, quickly setting the tray down before it fell.

"That was Alli's revenge," Lily said simply, taking a drink of butterbeer. "Have I ever mentioned how horrid it is to be on the receiving end of one of Alli's revenge attempts? It's not very pretty."

"Did you see how low Sirius' jaw fell?" James asked.

"Did you see how oblivious that airhead is?" Remus asked, causing everyone to laugh.

"Why is Alli trying to get revenge on Sirius?" Rosmerta asked, sitting down on the bench next to Lily.

"He asked out some blonde bimbo." Lily told her.

"So our little Alli is jealous, is that it?" Rosmerta asked, grinning.

"Basically," said Lily.

"And Sirius only asked out Carlton out to prove to James that he 'didn't like Carter.'" Remus told them.

"Well isn't this quaint?" Rosmerta said. "They both like each other but they won't admit it. This isn't going to get them very far. Maybe they need a matchmaker."

"I think they can do it on their own." Lily said quickly. "They don't need our help." James got the feeling she was trying to avoid something again, but this time he had no idea what it was. Why would she want to avoid setting up Alli and Sirius?

XXXXXX

"Hey Alli?" Raoul asked when they'd broken apart.

"Yeah Raoul?" She replied.

"Does you going out with me have anything to do with Sirius?"

_Shit, _Alli thought. _Raoul's smarter than I realized. I can't tell him that I'm using him. He is a nice guy, and I don't want to hurt him, just go out with him long enough to make Black jealous. _

"Why would you think that?" She asked, trying to sound convincing.

"Well, there's only the fact that he's over there with his jaw down to the ground staring at us." Raoul pointed out.

This time Alli didn't have to act convincing. "He is?" She gasped, and turned. Sure enough, Sirius was gaping at them, paying no attention to Lacey. As soon as he saw Alli looking at him, he quickly closed his mouth and looked away.

"Wow," Alli sighed, shocked.

"Does he like you?" Raoul asked.

Alli looked at him. "I'm not sure. He didn't seem to."

"Do you like him?"

Alli jumped about three feet. "No! I don't like him! He's a womanizing ass, and he has no respect for any girl, whether he's going out with her or not."

Raoul looked at her curiously. "Y'know, he's not as bad as you seem to think he is. I've spent time with the Marauders, and Sirius may be a bit strange but I think he's genuinely a good person."

"Probably not 'just a bit.'" Alli said, making him laugh. "I'll be right back."

Alli went to the ladies room, and collapsed on the edge of the sink. "What the fuck is wrong with me?" She moaned, slowly shaking her head. "I'm suddenly in love with someone I've know half my life, and I've already fucked everything up. Why did I have to kiss Raoul? Why?" She banged her head on the counter, the loud thump echoing around the small bathroom. "I mean, he's not a bad person, I just don't really like him. What was I thinking? I'm making myself look like some kind of jealous bitch."

She sat there for a few minutes, breathing deeply. This was particularly deep shit she'd gotten herself into this time. She'd been in bad situations before. Like the time her older brother Erik had hung her bras up on a line in the Gryffindor common roomwhen she had told their mother that he wasn't doing his homework because he was snogging a different girl every week. That had been third year, when she still talked to her mum about things. And she had only told her mother because Eric had lied and told James that she liked him. The whole thing had been horrifically embarrassing. But even that felt trivial compared to what she had to deal with now.

_It was summer, and she was fourteen. She, Erik, James, and Sirius were climbing the few very tall trees in the Potters' backyard. The tallest one was probably about 30 feet up, and Alli had always wanted to climb it, ever since she was little. She had this wild streak in her, one that her parents often said they had no idea where it came from. Erik had gone inside to get lemonade from the house elves and Alli took the opportunity to run over to the tree and begun to climb. _

_"Alli, get down!" Alli hadn't expected anyone to want to stop her. In fact, she'd thought James and Sirius would help her, so she nearly lost her grip from shock at Sirius' voice. _

_"Oh come on Sirius! You afraid I'll get hurt or something?" _

_"You know Erik'll be pissed if he sees you." Sirius hissed loudly. "Just get down." _

_James, however, had been on Alli's side. "Oh come on Padfoot. Live a little. You suddenly lost your Marauder spirit?" _

_Sirius shook his head, still looking a little nervous, which, when you stopped to consider, was a very unusual look for him. _

_Alli continued to climb, James cheering her on, until she stumbled on a branch. _

_"Ah shit!" She shrieked. James and Sirius both yelled as well, causing Erik to come running out of the house, drinks forgotten. _

_Alli held on to the branch above her with all her might, but unfortunately, luck would have it that it snapped, and she fell. Sirius quickly sprung into action, pulling out his wand and using a spell to slow her down. Erik caught her in his arms before she could hit the ground and James ran up to make sure she was ok. _

She had been so caught up in the moment, Alli remembered, that she hadn't even looked around for Sirius. She vaguely remembered the ministry owl flying up to where he was standing behind them, probably carrying some kind of warning about the underaged use of magic. She had thanked him later on, but he just nodded and avoided talking. He had taken that notice from the ministry, and not said a word.

"Maybe he really is a good person, like Raoul said," She mumbled to herself, before she remembered the present happenings. "Oh shit! Raoul!"

She raced out of the bathroom and back to where Raoul was sitting patiently. "Sorry I took so long. I ran into a friend, and she talked my ear off." Alli lied, sitting down next to him. He nodded, luckily believing her.

"You've been missed." He said, smiling slightly.

"Then I should feel appreciated, I suppose," she asked.

"Quite."

"So, what _did_ I miss?"

"Well…"

XXXXXX

"Would you look at that?" Remus breathed, causing Lily, James, Peter, and Rosmerta to look over. Sirius had gotten up from the table, said something to Lacey, and walked out.

"I hope Sirius had finally gotten his brains back and left her." Peter said.

"On the contrary," Remus told him. "Sirius hasn't broken up with Carlton yet."

"How can you tell?" Peter asked.

"Because Lacey isn't in hysterics," Remus said simply. "He's obviously having second thoughts though."

"I should hope so!" James exclaimed. "I don't know why he asked Carlton. We found out their first time around that she's all flirt, no intelligence."

"I could have told you that!" Rosmerta said. "She's been here with more boys than I can count."

"I'm going after him," James said. "Someone needs to talk him out of this stubborn-ness he's been in lately."

"I would come too, but it sounds a tad bit hopeless." Remus told him, causing Lily to laugh in agreement. "Good luck soldier."

James saluted him and walked out the door after his best friend.

XXXXXX

"Hey, Padfoot!" Sirius looked up to see James coming over to him. James sat down against the wall next to him. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Sirius said sourly. James shook his head.

"Come on. Why aren't you over there with Alli yet?"

"Why? Because she's snogging Raoul Marquay, that's why!" Sirius snapped, coming off as more jealous than he'd meant to.

"Well then why aren't you broken up with Lacey yet?" James asked carefully. He could tell that Sirius was in one of those moods, where he was likely to burst at any moment.

"Because," Sirius moaned. "Just because. Carter's with another guy. Even if I were to break up with Lacey, I'm screwed anyway."

"So you're jealous?"

Sirius looked up, then nodded. "Yeah, I guess. I just hate it, seeing her sitting there with Marquay, laughing and enjoying herself."

"Now you know why I always tried to keep any of Lily's potential boyfriends away." James said. "I didn't want to feel jealous like that."

"I don't know why I'm doing this!" Sirius yelled, just wanting to haul out and punch the wall behind him. "It's like I can't do anything right! Suddenly I'm jealous of Carter, and then I had to go ask somebody else out! What's wrong with me?"

"You think it's possible you love Alli?' James asked knowingly.

"I don't know anymore." Sirius groaned. "Maybe,"

"Ok," James said slowly, resisted the urge to tell Sirius what Lily had told them. "Are you going crazy whenever you're around her?"

Sirius nodded, looking shocked. James continued. "You want her to notice you, but at the same time you want to stay invisible?"

Again, Sirius nodded.

"You try to find any excuse to be around her? And just being in her company can make your day perfect?"

Sirius nodded once again.

"Yep," James said. "I think you're in love."

Sirius' jaw dropped. "Is this how you are with Lily?" He asked.

This time James nodded.

"Bloody hell," Sirius moaned. "I had no idea it felt like this. All those times you would just go off, talking about nothing but Evans and I thought you were just nuts. I promise you, Prongs, I'll never bother you about it again."

"See!" James yelled jumping up. "I told you I'd get you back! I told you you'd pay! And now look at you! You're _actually_ in love with a girl and you're trying to _apologize _to _me_!"

"Note to self," Sirius said, as James began to cheer for himself. "Never, ever make fun of James, because he'll actually get you back."

James laughed. "Come on Pads. We've got to get back. We're supposed to leave Hogsmeade in five minutes. We've got to go get Moony, Wormtail, and Lily.

* * *

(A/N) Well, there's the chapter. Now I have a few things to mention. 

I've just realized that I'm making Alli come off as a bitch. Let's set things straight; Alli is_not_ a bitch. Well, I guess she kinda is. She's trying to deal with these new feelings, that she isn't even sure about. Have you ever thought you could do something, but then when you try, you look really stupid. Alli's kinda experiencing that right now. I'm hoping I was able to express that with this chapter.

Oh, and the song for this one was really pissing me off. I'm not even sure if I like the one I chose. I was kinda thinking that both Alli and Sirius are trying to make the other one jealous, and appear perfect in the other's eyes, but they're failing miserably. Ah, the irony of life!

Ok, next chapter hopefully this weekend! With some Lily/James and some Julie/Remus bonding! Remember the chain reaction and review!


	9. Chapter 9 A Breakdown

(A/N) Man, everybody! I'm really sorry it's taken me so long to update! I feel absolutely awful! Thanks so much for the reviews though!

Chaosblazen: Are you telling me that I spelled Erik's name two different ways, or are you just stating that you didn't know it could be spelled like that? You are confusing me greatly!

princessdza: No, I didn't get Raoul from The Phantom of the Opera. It's a great movie though!Iactually firstsaw the name in one of my favorite series,TheSong of the Lioness quartet, and I've been dying to use it ever since. I just love that name!

baka-basher: Thank you for that interesting bit of entertainment. Now if I were you Syd, I would stay away from this Devin character. He kinda creeps me out. But then again, I could say the same thing to him about you!

rockergurl13: Actually, I think you're in for a longer wait than that!

hyperspaz77: Uou finally made an account! (does happy dance) And I absolutely love your screen name!

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Chapter Nine – A Breakdown

"You live you learn; you love you learn  
you cry you learn; you lose you learn  
you bleed you learn; you scream you learn."

Alanis Morissette – You Learn

After Julie said goodbye to Rick, she figured she should look for Alli and Lily. Alas, that was the opposite of what she felt like doing. So, she listened to her tired mind and decided to head back to school. They'd probably left Hogsmeade for the Gryffindor common room a long time ago. She did kind of feel guilty about leaving Lily to deal with Alli in the mood she had been in, but she supposed it couldn't be helped. Nothing too bad could have happened, could it?

When she got back to the dormitory she shared with the four other girls, she was surprised to find it completely empty. Neither Becca, nor Alice, nor her two best friends were anywhere in sight. This being the case, Julie decided to do the only thing worth doing at the moment; grab a chocolate bar, sit down in her favorite chair, and think.

After they'd kissed, she had awkwardly pointed out that they should be heading back, seeing as the sun was beginning to set. Rick had told her that sometime he would bring her back there to watch a sunset. It all seemed very romantic to Julie. When she thought about it, she'd never really had someone like that. Alli was the one who was likely to date any guy who asked her, unless he had a particularly bad reputation. Lily was the one who considered boys to be off her priority list till after Hogwarts. In her opinion, she was the odd one out.

Julie finally came to the conclusion that Rick was a really sweet guy. He'd paid for the chocolate; he'd taken her to one of the most beautiful valley's she'd ever seen. He had basically treated her like a princess. He had acted a little different around his friends, but everyone was like that. Most people didn't act the same around everyone. She was simply reading too much into the matter.

Julie decided that right now it would be really nice to see her sister. Annabelle, or Belle, as she liked to be called, was Julie's younger sister and only sibling. Julie had been hoping that Belle would get sorted into Gryffindor when she first came to Hogwarts, but she ended up in Ravenclaw. It was kinda depressing for a while, because Julie was so used to being the older sister. It took a nice long chat with Lily and Alli for her to realize that her little sis had her own life now. All that aside, she still sometimes wanted to simply follow Belle around for a few days, just to see how she was doing.

Belle was meant for Ravenclaw though. People always told Julie that she was very intelligent, but Julie personally though that Belle was smarter than she was. Belle was one of those people who just had that logical air about her. Whenever Julie felt like falling apart, she'd go see either Lily or Belle. Sure, Belle had had her share of bad times, and that was when Julie really got into the big sister act. But usually Belle seemed more stable than her older sister.

Julie was seriously contemplating trying to get into the Ravenclaw common room, just to say hi to her sister, when she was interrupted by someone entering the room. Julie jumped up, hoping to see Lily or Alli to ask how Alli's plan had worked, but instead found Alice.

"Already at the chocolate, I see?' Alice said, laughing as she set down her Honeydukes bag. Julie simply nodded. "Bad time or something? Becca said you had a date with some Ravenclaw boy."

"Yeah," Julie said. "It wasn't bad though. I'm just feeling slightly overwhelmed is all."

"Slightly overwhelmed?" Alice asked. "Wanna talk?"

"Well, I went out with Rick, and I had a good time, it's just, I don't know. Maybe it's just because I'm new to this whole relationship thing. I'm just feeling kinda stressed out."

"What about?"

"I don't know. Lots of stuff, I guess." Julie took a deep breath before continuing. "I had my first kiss today." Alice raised her eyebrows. "And I'm probably worrying for no reason; it's just that I'm not sure what to do about it. I'm afraid maybe he's expecting me to be something I'm not." It felt good to simply say what was on your mind, Julie thought.

"And all this after a first date?" Alice asked, actually sounding a little amused.

Julie blushed. "I knew I was overreacting. I guess I don't really know what I feel. I've only went on a few dates before this, and none of them involved being kissed. Those were basically me and my friends sitting with my date and his friends. Nothing big. And I never went on a second date with any of them, and I've already agreed to go out with Rick again. I'm just nervous."

Alice looked at Julie for a minute, before replying, "I guess I see where you're coming from. You wanna know why I'm nervous?"

"Why?" Julie asked.

"I went on a date with Frank Longbottom today."

Julie jumped. "You didn't say anything about a date."

"I know," said Alice. "I was nervous too. See, I think I really like Frank. I've liked him for a long time, and I wasn't expecting him to ask me out. I had a really good time with him, and I'm going out with him again next weekend. I was so nervous though, and I still am. I'm afraid that this isn't going to last. I mean, if you think about it, how likely is it that a relationship will keep going? Most times they just fall apart. People fight, ignore each other, leave. Remember when Becca's parents split last summer?"

"Of course I do," Julie agreed. "Becca said it was really nasty. Lily and I were talking to her about it, and she told us that they would argue all the time, curse at each other, sometimes even leave for days at a time, without telling her where they were going to be. I have to say, it really makes me appreciate my parents."

Alice nodded in understanding, then continued with her explanation. "I know I'm probably being unreasonable, but that's something I've always been afraid of. I don't like fighting, or arguing. It's just one of those pet peeves, you know? I was at Becca's once, and her parents got into this fight. I don't think they remembered I was there, 'cause they started swearing at each other, and then Becca's mom threw something at her dad and stormed out. She never showed up, for the rest of the time I was there.

"I guess I'm afraid of getting into a fight like that with someone I love. Sometimes I feel like I'm being overly nice, but I can't help it. I just don't want to fight with anyone."

"You don't seem unreasonable to me, Alice." Julie told her. "You're more reasonable than I am. And that calls for some special chocolate." She pulled out her bar of dark chocolate with vanilla swirls, broke off a piece, and handed it to Alice, who laughed.

"You know what?" She asked, taking a bite.

"What?" Julie asked, breaking off a piece for herself.

"I feel like a wimp for talking like that, but it really helps you feel better."

"Well put!" Julie said, clapping her hands in approval. "More chocolate?"

"Yes please!" Alice said happily.

XXXXXX

James was irritated. He was happy that Lily chose to walk back with him and his friends, but Alli and Sirius were getting on his nerves. They still hadn't talked to each other! After James had talked to Sirius, they had gone back inside for a minute, but then Sirius just got up and left for the castle. James had been hoping their talk would convince his best friend to go talk to Alli, but apparently it wasn't good enough. Then Alli and Raoul left, and then Lily decided that they should go back too, seeing as the entertainment was gone.

_Alli and Sirius would be good for each other_, James though. _They both have that rebellious, charismatic, and just plain weird attitude. It's perfect. The only problem is that they seem afraid to admit that they like each other, or to do anything about it. Well, I guess I can see why. I mean, if it doesn't work out with them, our whole friendship could be tossed in the trash bin. They'd never treat each other the same way. Shit, maybe this is a bad idea. Well, no, I guess our friendship is already screwed up by this whole "make the other person jealous" thing. So what's the harm in any more entertainment?_

XXXXXX

"Man, I wonder where Alli and Lily are!" Julie stated, hoping sincerely that they hadn't gotten into a fight or something. Her best friends didn't fight very often, but when they did it was big.

"Yeah, I wonder when they're gonna get back," agreed Alice. At that very moment, the objects of their wondering chose to walk through the door. Both had their arms crossed over their chests, and their faces turned purposely away from each other.

"Isn't this swell?" Julie mumbled, and got up. "Hey guys, how was Hogsmeade?"

"It was great," Alli said, moving over towards her bed. "Perfect."

"Absolutely perfect," Lily said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Especially when _somebody_ left me alone at the Three Broomsticks with Potter."

"Oh really?" Alli asked. "I got the impression, just by looking over there, that you were enjoying yourself. And anyhow, when did Lupin and Pettigrew become James? And wasn't that Rosie I saw with you?"

"That's not the point!" Lily cried venomously. "The point is that you left me alone, just so you could go on with your 'make Black jealous' ploy!"

"I already explained it to you," said Alli. "What I needed to do and why. Why can't you get it?"

"Why?" Lily exploded. Julie and Alice shuddered, knowing that Alli had unleashed that redhead temper. "_Why?_ Because you only saw your own selfish reasons! Yes, Sirius asked out some blonde bimbo. You just figured out that you care for him. _He doesn't even know that you've got these feelings! _Had he known, maybe he would have asked you instead of Carlton. But you decided that rather than wait for him to break up by next week, like he always does, you would try to make him 'jealous' by letting him see you with another guy!"

Alice and Julie looked awed as Lily took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Alli stared at her friend, jaw dropped, looking almost near tears. Finally she spoke. "You're right. You're right ok?" She dropped down on the bed, and put her head in her hands. "I'm so stupid! I just was angry that he asked out that airhead, and I wanted him to ask me out instead, so I figured that if I could make him jealous by going with Raoul, he would dump her and ask me instead. This had got to be the stupidest thing I've ever done! I liked being with Raoul, but the whole time I just wanted to be over there with Sirius and James, and Remus. It was like I didn't know what to do anymore, so I just continued on with my plan. I don't even know why I did it, because, well, think about it logically. Sirius is a total player. Even if he did go out with me, he'd never stay with me. I kept trying to tell myself that, but in the end I was just too jealous of Carlton to care. I'm just so messed up right now, and what the hell am I gonna do about it?"

Julie moved over to the bed and wrapped her arm around her friend as Alli put her head on Julie's shoulder and cried. It was very awkward to see Alli cry, Julie thought. Alli was usually the strong one, the one telling her friends it was ok. _I bet_ _I'd be crying if I was in her situation_, Julie thought. _She's known Sirius for more than half of her life, and she suddenly likes him and she doesn't know what to do about it. Everyone makes mistakes, I guess. But I really wish this wasn't happening. Alli doesn't deserve this. And poor Alice just told me she hates fighting, and then this happens. _

Alice looked like she didn't know what was happening. She was still sitting on the couch, her eyes wide. Lily looked the same way. She hadn't been expecting Alli to come out and tell them her reasoning like that. She was still kind of mad at her best friend, but she was now starting to feel sort of guilty. She hadn't really thought about why Alli was doing what she was doing, she just thought Alli was being selfish.

After a few minutes, Alice finally got up, walked over to her Honeydukes bag, pulled out a bar of raspberry flavored chocolate, broke of a piece, and handed it to Alli. Alli looked up and started laughing.

"Chocolate?" She gasped in between laughter. "I'm sobbing and you give me chocolate?"

"Uh, sorry, if you don't want it now, I'll put it away and give it to you later. I just thought it would help," Alice cried, looking confused.

Alli shook her head. "I love you Alice," she said, hugging the surprised girl and taking the chocolate with a grin.

"Hey, Al?" Lily asked, looking sheepish. "Look, I'm sorry. I guess I freaked out a little. Do you forgive me?"

"Course I do!" Alli cried. "I'm the one who was being a bitch about it. Friends again?"

"Yes please," said Lily. "I want some of that chocolate!"

"Which reminds me," exclaimed Julie, jumping up. "Rick and I got you white chocolate at Honeydukes!"

"Oh yeah, I completely forgot! How was Rick?' Alli asked, and Julie launched into an explanation of her day, in full detail.

XXXXXX

_Alli and Lily are so strange_, James thought as he looked for the latter. She was supposed to patrol with him tonight. It was Monday, their first official night of patrolling as Heads. _They weren't talking to each other Saturday night, and then Sunday at Breakfast they're already friends again. The last time they got in a fight, they didn't talk for probably a week straight! What happened to make them solve it?_

_Well, it's not like I'm complaining. I'd rather have them be friends then hate each other. I just wish that Lily would have talked to Alli, and told her about Sirius liking her too. Maybe she did, but Alli's too scared to talk to him. I guess I can just ask Lily during patrolling. Wait, I have a whole hour to spend alone with Lily. Cool!_

James found Lily sitting in the common room with her friends and his. They were only up at 11pm because McGonagall had assigned a big paper due Tuesday, and because of the eventful weekend they'd all forgotten to do it. Julie and Remus were sitting together at a table, working quietly; Sirius was complaining loudly about the homework that he conveniently was avoiding doing; Alli was sitting with Lily, who appeared to be explaining something to her.

"Hey, Lil," said James, making Lily jump. "We have to patrol tonight."

"Oh crap, I forgot about that too!" Lily cried, leaping up. "Marshall, I charge you with explaining this theory to Alli in my absence."

"Yes Ma'am!" Julie said sharply, saluting Lily.

"Come on Potter," Lily said, leading the way out the door. James said goodbye to Sirius Remus, and followed.

"They're not gonna come back alive," Sirius said pointedly.

"Definitely not," said Alli. "I'm not even going to bother waiting up for them. They won't come back here; they'll go straight to the hospital wing. Goodnight everyone."

Sirius watched her walk up the stairs, then said "I'm going up to bed too."

"But what about the homework you haven't done yet?" Julie asked.

"I'll do it upstairs," Sirius told her, getting up and walking upstairs.

"Thanks for saying goodnight!" Remus yelled after him sarcastically, but he just shut the door.

"You want to stay up and wait for them, then?" Julie asked Remus, noticing that they were the only ones in the common room.

"Why not," said Remus. "I still need to finish this paper anyway. For some reason, it's confusing me."

"What is?"

"The whole concept."

"Should I explain it to you?"

"Sure."

XXXXXX

_Silence is awkward_, Lily thought as she walked next to James down a first floor hallway. _It's been almost half an hour, and all we've said to each other is confirmations of where to go, or what to do. But what can I say? _

"What happened with you and Alli?"

Lily nearly tripped at the sudden sound of James' voice. "What do you mean?"

"Well," said James. "You kinda hated each other at Hogsmeade, and then Sunday morning you were best friends again. What happened?"

"It's not any of your business," Lily said. "But to be honest, I'm not really sure. We got back at the same time, and then I blew up at her, and then she had this mini breakdown. It was weird. And then all of a sudden, it was fine. Just like that. I'm not even sure how it happened. I was yelling at her and the next thing I knew, I was apologizing and she was saying it was fine, 'cause she was the one being a bitch anyway."

Lily looked over at James, who was watching her with interest. "That's gotta be the most you've ever told me."

She blushed. "I can't believe I just went off on a tangent like that."

"I guess everybody does that sometimes," James told her practically. "So, did you tell Alli about Sirius?"

"No," said Lily, blushing for a second time.

"Why not?" James asked. "They'd be perfect together, if we could just get them to see it."

"What happened to the 'Sirius doesn't need any help from me' attitude?" Lily asked, trying to distract him. The real reason she hadn't told Alli was that she was being overprotective. She didn't want Alli to go out with Sirius. He'd never been with a girl for more than 2 weeks. Maybe Lily was being stupid, but she didn't want her best friend to get hurt.

"I didn't say help him, necessarily." James said. "If we help her, then they can get together without me ever talking to Sirius."

"I suppose," Lily said, biding her time.

"Then again, maybe we should just see if they can get together themselves," James said, more to himself than to Lily. Lily sighed in relief, and they continued walking.

XXXXXX

"Hey, maybe we'll be lucky this year."

"What?" Julie asked.

"I said maybe we'll be lucky. Maybe Lily will give James a chance this year." Remus told her, putting his quill down, having finally finished the paper.

"That'd be nice," agreed Julie. "I'm not sure how much of her Potter-ranting I can take."

"You know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think if Lily could stop being so stubborn and give him a chance, they would make a good couple."

"That's exactly what me and Alli have been saying!" Julie cried. "But don't let Lily hear you talking like that. It was really funny when Alli mentioned it once. Lily did this charm that tied her to the ceiling, and she didn't let her down till everyone came up for bed."

Remus began to laugh. "I wish I could have seen that."

"It was great," Julie nodded. "Just not for Alli." With Lily's temper, she can come up with some pretty good punishments if you make her angry."

"Like what?"

"Oh, all kinds of stuff!"

Remus looked at the clock. "Go ahead; we have time."

And so Julie began the story of Lily's temper.

* * *

(A/N) This is my longest chapter yet!I feel very proud of myself! I appologize for any spelling or grammar errors. I'm too tored to check for them right now.

I have one request. If you must review with a complaint, please explain why. Fpr example, if you say that there's something wrong with my characters or plot, explain why. Otherwise, you're just telling me something that'll hurt my feelings. If you explain yourself, I can use your help to improve not only the next chapters, but my writing skills. It's also one of my pet peeves, when people don't explain why they think something wasn't right. So help me out folks, and make sure I know your opinion!

Review away!


	10. Chapter 10 Unwelcome Letters

(A/N) Oh my god, you guys! I am so sorry it's taken this long to update! I feel so bad, I just want to hit myself over the head with my world history book! I've got fully-fledged writer's block at the moment, not to mention the typical butt-load of homework! I think I'm going crazy! And the only thing that keeps me sane is pocky! I buy pocky almost everyday, so I'm basically broke, which kinda sucks!

Thanks for the reviews everyone! They made me so happy! And just in case you were wondering, Chaosblazen, Erik's name is oficially spelled with the k, cause I think it looks cooler!

* * *

Chapter Ten – Unwelcome Letters

"Take these plastic people  
Read their lips, now let it linger  
is there anything that makes them sound sincere?  
Tightly hold your hand  
Take a deep breath; give them the finger  
Are you worried  
that your thoughts are not quite clear?"

Our Lady Peace – One Man Army

"I can't believe Lily did that!" Remus cried, tears of laughter leaking out his eyes.

"I know! I couldn't either, until I saw it!" Julie told him, equally hysterical. "I walked in the room and there they were; Alice was holding back a blue-haired Becca, and Lily had apparently locked herself in the bathroom, because I could here her in there screaming that Becca deserved it. Apparently Becca had said that Lily was dreaming about James."

"I'm glad you told me about these violent tendencies of Lily's. I'll keep them in mind the next time I get the urge to tease her."

Julies' laughing was dying down as she said, "Do you think they'll be back soon. I don't think they're supposed to be out past midnight, which only gives them a few minutes."

"I'm starting to believe Alli was right, and that they won't come back." Remus told her. "I think a more appropriate question would have to be 'do you think they're mortally wounded yet?'"

Julie began to laugh again. "I think you're giving Lily less credit then she deserves. She can handle herself, even when she feels like exploding."

"Unless she's around James." Remus pointed out logically.

"Actually, you're right. I think James is the only person she really looses her temper with. Usually if people piss her off, she just ignores them, or stays calm when they're around, but blows her top once they're out of her sight. James seems to be the only one who gets her temper no matter what."

"That's strange," Remus said, thinking. "Why only James?"

"It is strange." Julie agreed. "Maybe she doesn't hate him as much we think."

"Maybe," Remus echoed. "On the topic of relationships, how are things going with Lesher?'

"Rick?" Julie asked, blushing slightly. _Come on Julie_, she told herself. _This is Remus. No reason to get whacked out._ "Its fine, I suppose. I had a good time at Hogsmeade. What did you do there?"

"James, Peter, and I went with Sirius and his date." Remus told her. "I'm sure you already know about what happened there."

Julie giggled. "Yeah, I do."

"So, um… you going out with Lesher again?" Remus hadn't meant it to come out like that. Hell, he hadn't even meant to say _that_, but it just came out. It took a big deal of self restraint to keep from smacking himself - and hard too. He didn't need Julie thinking he was any crazier.

"Um, yeah, I guess. I saw him in Divination today, and he asked me to go with him somewhere next week. I'm sure where yet though. I think he wanted to surprise me. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was just… Hey, it's Lily and James! And they're not dead!" Remus jumped up and ran over to the door, where their friends were just entering. Julie got up too. She certainly wasn't going to get an answer out of Remus now, but she really was curious. She'd have to ask him later.

"What are you guy's still doing up?" Lily asked.

"Waiting for you two," Remus told her. "Alli and Sirius were both certain that you wouldn't come back."

"Really," Lily said, sounding affronted. "I only injured him a small bit."

James laughed dryly. "A small bit?" He turned his head to show Remus and Julie his cheek. There was a hand print left across his cheek, still quite red. "She smacked me."

"Well you and your immature self decided it would be funny to jump from behind a suit of armor and scare me half to death!" Lily exclaimed in defense.

James grinned guiltily. "It was too good an opportunity to pass up, Lil."

"Well you deserved to be smacked, so don't go complaining when I'm around." Lily told him, trying to sound angry. The huge smile on her face was a dead give-away.

"So, were Alli and Sirius getting along?" James asked, smiling at Lily's fake anger.

"Not quite." Julie informed him. "They're still avoiding each other's eyes, and not talking directly to each other. But they have started to agree with what the other says."

"That's a start," James said. He'd been really worried about Sirius for the past couple days, so in his opinion, any improvement was great.

"Well, if you'll all excuse me, I'm going up to bed." Lily said. "You coming, Jules?"

Julie nodded. "See you later James, 'night Remus." Julie smiled at the latter as she walked up the stairs, and Remus felt his face burn.

"'Night ladies," James called as they shut the door, then turned to his friend. "Looks to me like you're smitten."

What're you talking about?" Remus snapped quickly, walking up the stairs to their room.

"I'm talking about you and Julie," said James, sounding exasperated.

Remus started. "What d'you mean? There's nothing going on!"

James rolled his eyes, unaware of how much he was acting like Sirius would have if he wasn't caught up in his own problems. "Of course there is! I can see it in your eyes, dimwit!"

"Really?"

"Yep Moony; you're definitely head over heels for that girl."

"Oh come off it Prongs," Remus argued, trying to punch him. James dodged, and ran up the rest of the stairs, chanting "Moony loves Julie, Moony loves Julie." Remus glared before chasing after him.

XXXXXX

The Private Diary of Lily Evans

October 3rd

I had to patrol with Potter tonight! And on my god, he is so immature! He jumped out at me from behind a suit of armor and scared me so bad; I smacked him so hard across the cheek that I left a handprint! Actually, it was quite funny. I'm tried to be mad at him, when we got back and all, but I really couldn't. For some reason my anger just, like, left, and I don't know why.

While we were walking, he mentioned Alli and Sirius. He wants them to get together. I guess I can understand why, I just don't want them to. I'm afraid Alli will end up hurt. Sirius isn't a very reliable boyfriend. I remember when he dated Becca; he was only with her for a few days. I know Alli will want more commitment than that, and I just know that Sirius won't be able to give her that. I swear, if he hurts her, he'll wish he'd never been born a male.

Ok, I need to stop acting over-protective. Castrating Black isn't going to help anything. Sure, it'll save the world from future mini-Blacks, but that's not the issue at the moment. The issue is keeping Alli from certain heartbreak. Maybe I should try to get Julie to help.

Damn, I completely forgot about Julie and Rick. She told us all about what happened at Hogsmeade. Rick seems like a nice guy, but I've also noticed Remus has been paying more attention to Julie then he normally does. Oh, I wish Remus would go with Julie instead! They seem so good for each other, when I think about it. Why must our love lives be so freaking complicated?

Lily

XXXXXX

Lily woke up the next morning to hear Becca singing in the bathroom while she put on her makeup.

"Hey Beck?" She heard Alli call from the next bed. "We all know you're a morning person, but that doesn't mean we have to be."

Lily laughed softly and turned over, meaning to try and go back to sleep, when she saw the clock. "Oh crap!" She yelled, jumping up out of bed.

"What now?" Alli moaned from under her pillow.

"It's 8:30 on a Tuesday morning, that's what!" Lily yelled, pulling on a pair of jeans and then hopping on one foot to put a sock on. She heard a thud as Alli tumbled out of bed.

"Why didn't you say so? We only got 30 minutes to get dressed, eat breakfast, _and_ get to class. Let's get moving people. Hut, two, three, four; hut, two, three, four!"

XXXXXX

Lily and Alli got down to the great hall to find Julie and the Marauders already there. They all moved over to make space for the two newcomers.

"So who do you think is gonna try out for the team this year?" Sirius asked James.

"I'm not sure," James answered earnestly. "I know that one kid, Jackson Farrell wants to try for chaser."

"What positions do we need to fill?" Alli asked, jumping quickly into the conversation.

James looked thoughtful for a moment. "We need a chaser and a beater, as far as I'm aware."

Lily decided to tune out as they got into a major discussion on Quidditch skills. The sport had never really been her thing anyway. Then she noticed Rick Lesher making his way over to Julie.

"Hey Jules," she hissed. Julie's head snapped in her direction. "Boyfriend alert." Julie nodded her thanks, got up, and walked over to meet Rick. They were just close to her that, if Lily strained her ears, she could hear what they were saying.

"So, do you want to come on Friday?" Rick was asking.

"Yeah, sure," Julie said. "Where do you want me to meet you?"

"Out by the front doors. Ian and Nora will be there too."

"Ok, cool. See you then." Julie said, and she came back to sit by Lily. They looked at each other for a minute before Lily spoke.

"So, what was that about?"

"We're going out somewhere on Friday. Nothing big," said Julie, looking slightly flushed.

"Who're Ian and Nora?" Lily asked.

"Oh, they're just some friends of Rick's. Nora's in our Divination class as well."

Lily looked over James, Sirius, and Alli chatting. "I'm glad to see Alli's getting some control around Sirius again."

Julie looked over too, and smiled. "That is good, isn't it? I was really worried our friendships would all be screwed from the whole recent fit of jealousy."

"Tell me about it," moaned Lily, causing Julie to laugh. "So, what were you and Alice doing before Alli and I got there and spoiled the good mood?"

"We were just talking," said Julie.

"About…?"

"Lots of stuff, I guess. About our dates, about how we were feeling at the moment, about what bothers us. I was kinda worried, after I got back, but Alice was great."

"Well now I feel even worse for ruining your girl time!" Lily laughed.

"Well don't," said Julie simply. "It was due to be ruined anyway. If you hadn't interrupted, something else would have."

"You sure?" Lily asked.

Yep," Julie told her.

"Hey, it's the owls!" Lily and Julie turned when they heard Alli cry out. "And… oh my god!" About a quarter of the owls bore letters tied with black ribbon; a sign that there had been an attack.

"This is _not_ good," Lily whispered, watching where the owls flew. Across the room, and owl flew up to a small girl, who shrieked and collapsed on the floor.

"Oh no," Julie whimpered. "Look at Becca."

Lily looked over to see a large brown owl flying over towards Becca. When it stopped and dropped its letter in front of her, Becca gasped. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and slid her thumb under the seal to open it. Her eyes got wide, and she began to read out loud.

_"Miss Woodstone," _she read.

_"We regret to inform you that last night, in a series of attacks in an area just south of London, your brother was lost while trying to defend another family. Try as we might, we were unable to identify any of the perpetrators. Please accept our deepest condolences. For information on funeral dates and times, please contact your family as soon as possible._

_Yours sincerely,"_

"Then there's a list of names," said Becca, in a final kind of tone.

"Oh Becca," Alice whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"It's ok," said Becca, in a hoarse voice. "I'm going back to the rooms. I need to get some things done. You guys go ahead to class; I'll be there soon." Without waiting for a reply, she got up and left.

"Is she really going back to the rooms?" Remus asked, sounding concerned.

"Of course not," said Lily. "Becca doesn't want people around when she's upset."

"Yeah," agreed Alli. "She's not going to actually be where she tells us she's going to be. Then we could find her."

"Maybe we should just go to class then." Sirius said.

"Yeah, she just needs some space." Lily said. "She'll be in class."

"We should do something for her later." Julie suggested. "Like a sympathy gift of some kind."

"Like what?" James asked.

"I dunno; comfort food or something." Julie said.

"I like it," Remus said. "Let's go on to History of Magic and we can plan then, since no one ever listens to Binns anyway."

Everyone agreed, and they went.

XXXXXX

All through History of Magic, Becca never showed.

"I've got a copy of the Daily Prophet," said Frank Longbottom, pulling it out of his bag. "They say that this attack was done by the same people who were in charge of those last five. They wear the same clothing, and when they leave, they shoot this marking into the sky."  
"I've heard about that," said James. "It's supposedly a skull, with a snake coming out of its mouth."

"Five, now six attacks in only a few months?" Remus asked, as though clarifying his addition. "That's not a good sign. These people are just plain malicious."

"I feel really bad for Becca though," said Alice. "They don't ever know why these attacks are happening. Her brother's just another auror who got called in and didn't make it out. She really doesn't deserve that. No one does!"

"Speaking of Becca, where do you guys think she could be?" Lily asked nervously.

"She said she'd be here," added Julie, her eyes shifting towards the door. "I'm really worried about her. She just found out that her brother died. What if she's having suicidal inclinations or something?"

"You make that sound so dramatic," said Alli. "I'm sure Becca wouldn't do anything like that. She's not brainless."

"People do weird things when they loose someone," Remus pointed out.

"What are we gonna do for her then?" Peter asked.

"We should make something, like a gift basket," said James.

"Yeah, with chocolate in it," cried Alli. The boys all stared at her. "What? All girls need chocolate when they're on emotional highs."

"You're copying that line directly from Lily," Julie pointed out.

"So?" Alli said indignantly. Julie laughed and shook her head.

"So, we get her a gift basket, with chocolate, and what else?" Lily said, pulling out a sheet of parchment to write down ideas.

"You're so organized," Alli sighed. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Some kind of wine!" Alice said. The boys looked at her.

"Yeah, like a French wine or something," added Lily. Then boys turned their heads to look at her.

"Did you know that they drink?" Sirius asked.

"Aside from Alli, not a clue," said James.

"Well then, we've got wine and chocolate." Julie said. "We need a few more kinds of candy, but aside from that I think it's wonderful."

"Class dismissed," came Binns' voice above the multiple side conversations in the room. They all got up, left the room, and grouped together again in the hallway.

"So, how are we gonna get this stuff?" Frank asked.

"Leave that to us," said James, pointing to Sirius and himself.

Sirius nodded enthusiastically. "We'll be back." And without another word, they were gone.

"I'll never understand them," murmured Alli, to numerous nods from the rest of the party.

XXXXXX

Lily and Alice searched for Becca, while Alli and Julie prepared a basket of some sort. Lily found her in the third floor girl's bathrooms, simply sitting. After nearly walking up to her, Lily decided against it, thinking it would be better to see her with their present already done. James and Sirius returned with all the things they had asked for. It seemed like they had been to Hogsmeade, but when the girls questioned them, they wouldn't answer. "We have our ways," Sirius or James would say, causing Remus to groan and roll his eyes.

"Ok, I think we need a delegate, someone to go take our gift to Becca." Frank said. "Lily, you said she was in one of the girl's toilets?" Lily nodded. "Why don't you take it to her then, since you already know where she is?"

There were several nods of agreement from around the room. "Yeah, Lily's always the one who's good at listening to me or calming me down if I'm having a bad day," said Alice. "You should do it Lil!"

After a few more encouraging words, Lily finally said, "Alright. I can see you guys think I'm perfect for the job. Where's the basket?" Julie handed it to her. "I'll be back later, and hopefully with Becca in tow."

XXXXXX

Lily walked in the bathroom, and looked around. Becca was still there. Good. That meant she didn't have to go look all over the school for her. Becca was sitting on a chair in front of one of the mirrors; it looked like she had conjured it. Lily put the basket behind her back and walked up to her friend.

"Hey Becca," she said.

Becca turned and looked at her. Lily noticed that her eyes were puffy, and a little red. "I see you've found me," she said, trying to sound funny as she wiped her eyes. Lily wasn't fooled. She used her own wand to conjure a chair, and sat down, holding out the gift.

"We all made this for you, Beck," she said. "We were really worried about you. Do you want to talk, maybe, about anything?"

Becca shook her head, then looked down at the basket and began to speak. "Why did he have to go? Why _my_ brother? Jason didn't do anything to anybody; he became an auror to try and help people! I didn't even get to say goodbye! And then they send that letter. '_Please accept our deepest condolences?_' Haven't they ever lost someone? 'Cause if they have, I think they know getting a letter with 'condolences' does _nothing_ to help _anything_! It's like they don't even care!"

Lily decided it would be best to wait until Becca had it all out of her system before doing anything. Once Becca seemed to be done, Lily got up and hugged her.

"I know they don't care," she said. "Unfortunately, it's not their job to. It makes you wonder why they're the ones sending the letters in the first place."

"I just wish they would at least try," Becca cried.

"I know," Lily said. "I'm really sorry. About everything. I wish there was more I could do for you."

"Thanks anyway," said Becca, wiping her eyes again. "What's in the basket?"

"Maybe you should look," said Lily, pointing at it.

Becca looked inside it and smiled. "Chocolate and wine? What more could I ask for?"

"Thank Potter and Black," said Lily, smiling too. "You ready to go back? As corny as it sounds, I reckon Jason wouldn't want you to mope about like this." Becca put everything back in the bag, and looked at Lily expectantly. Lily took the hint. "Ok, let's go."

"I need to thank James and Sirius anyways," she said, grabbing the gift and leading the way out the door. "And you're right. It may sound corny, but Jason would rather have me out enjoying myself then being depressed."

As they walked out the door, Lily felt a surge of anger._ It's not fair, _she thought. _That this has to happen to people like Becca, who's never done anything bad in her life. It's just plain wrong! I hope they find out who is it though. These attacks are starting to get sick. Whoever's ruining my friends' lives deserves to be punished.

* * *

(A/N) I've noticed that the more chapters I write, the longer they get! I'm actually very proud of myself, seeing as this chapter was 10 whole pages on a microsoft word document! That's the most I've ever done, chapter-wise! _

I'm going to see Corpse Bride! I'm so excited! I will say this plainly right now, I love Johnny Depp! I'm going to be looking around for a shirt with his face on it! And I actually, honestly, would wear it! Anyone reading this who is a Johnny fan, have some pocky! You deserve a big pat on the back, for being so smart!

Anyway, please review! I'll try to get the next chapter up quickly, but as my friend would say, mylife is "hell on wheels" right now, and not to mention, the writer's block! Update with something nice, (heck, even a list of your favorite actors would make me happy), and I'll work my hardest and fastest!

Oh, and my apologies for any spelling errors. I've worked on this chapter so long that I think if I read it one more time my eyes will fall out!


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